Postclassic period (Mesoamerica)

Postclassic period (Mesoamerica)
Name	Postclassic period (Mesoamerica)
Period	Postclassic
Dates	c. 900–1521 CE
Preceding	Classic period (Mesoamerica)
Following	Spanish colonization of the Americas

Postclassic period (Mesoamerica) The Postclassic period (c. 900–1521 CE) marks a pan-regional era in Mesoamerica following the decline of Classic centers such as Teotihuacan, Tikal, and Monte Albán, characterized by new polities, intensified long-distance exchange, and shifting ritual practices. This phase saw the rise of states and confederations including Toltec Empire, Aztec Empire, Tarascan State, Mixtec Kingdoms, and Maya polities like Chichén Itzá and Mayapán, and culminated in the encounters with Hernán Cortés and other agents of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Definition and Chronology

Scholars define the Postclassic using archaeological phases and historical sources such as the Annals of Tlatelolco, the Florentine Codex, and colonial chronicles by Diego Durán and Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, situating it after the collapse of Classic institutions at sites like Copán and Palenque and before the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. Chronologies vary regionally with northern sequences tied to sites such as Cholula and Xochicalco, while highland central timelines emphasize transitions marked by the rise of Tula and the reconfiguration of power seen in the Mixtec codices and Aztec codices such as the Codex Mendoza.

Political and Social Structures

Postclassic governance ranged from imperial systems like the Triple Alliance—comprising Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan—to centralized polities such as the Tarascan State under the Irepan and fluid chiefdoms among northern groups like the Chichimeca. Elite lineages and warrior orders documented in sources associated with Itzcóatl and Moctezuma II structured succession and tribute, while city-states such as Mixco Viejo and confederations like Maya League of Mayapán exhibited oligarchic councils reflected in the Chilam Balam texts and the Codex Borgia iconography. Social stratification included nobility, priesthoods linked to institutions like the Calmecac and Telpochcalli, merchant classes epitomized by the Pochteca, and specialized craft groups recorded at markets such as Tlatelolco marketplace.

Economy and Trade Networks

Long-distance trade expanded via maritime routes along the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Coast, linking obsidian sources such as Pachuca to marketplaces in Tenochtitlan and Cholula, and connecting coastal ports like Veracruz and Acapulco to interior exchange. Commodities included cacao, cotton, turquoise, featherwork from Coxcatlan and Yucatán melipona honey exchanged in the pochteca circuits, while tribute systems enforced by the Triple Alliance and the Tarascan State redistributed goods. Technological practices—terracing at Monte Albán, chinampa agriculture in Valley of Mexico, and metallurgy influenced by trans-Pacific contacts debated in literature—supported urban populations in centers such as Culhuacán and Coyoacán.

Art, Architecture, and Material Culture

Postclassic artistic production shows stylistic syncretism: Toltec monumental sculpture at Tula with colossae contrasts with intricate Mixtec goldwork seen in the Codex Nuttall and Aztec feather mosaics recorded in the Florentine Codex. Architectural forms evolved into fortified sites such as Mayapán and Uxmal, while ceremonial cores in Cholula and Puebla preserved pyramid traditions. Ceramics exhibit new polychrome styles in Hidalgo and Oaxaca, and portable objects—jade, shell-inlay, and copper alloys—reflect artisanal specialization evident in workshops documented at Teotihuacan satellite sites and later collections assembled by Francisco de Aguilar and other colonial informants.

Religion, Rituals, and Ideology

Religious revivalism and syncretism are prominent, with cults of warrior-deities like Huitzilopochtli in Tenochtitlan and the feathered serpent cult embodied by Quetzalcoatl at Chichén Itzá and Tula. Priestly organizations maintained calendrical sciences inherited from Classic centers, evident in texts such as the Codex Borbonicus and ritual manuals used by clergy described by Fray Diego de Landa in Yucatán. Human sacrifice intensified in some centers according to accounts of Bernal Díaz del Castillo and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, while ancestor veneration and the role of divination persisted across Mixtec, Zapotec, and Maya traditions recorded in the Dresden Codex and regional murals.

Regional Developments and Major Polities

Distinct regional trajectories include the northern frontier dynamics involving the Chichimeca and the settlement patterns of the Purépecha (Tarascans) centered at Tzintzuntzan, the Maya Postclassic resurgence at Mayapán and Chichén Itzá with merchant networks to Cozumel, and central Mexican hegemony under the Aztec Empire emanating from Tenochtitlan. In Oaxaca, the Mixtec and Zapotec city-states at Mitla and Monte Albán produced elite codices like the Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus I, while northern highland sites such as Paquimé (Casas Grandes) illustrate interaction with the greater Southwest and plains polities.

Contact, Conflict, and the Spanish Conquest

Interregional warfare, tributary expansion by the Triple Alliance, and alliances such as those between Texcoco and Tenochtitlan set the stage for the arrival of Hernán Cortés and expeditions by figures like Pedro de Alvarado and Diego de Almagro. Epidemics of smallpox introduced during early contact destabilized populations, enabling Spanish military and political strategies documented by Bernal Díaz del Castillo and clerical sources including Fray Bartolomé de las Casas to exploit internal divisions among polities like Tlaxcala and Texcoco. The fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, negotiated and fought with indigenous allies such as Tlaxcala and maritime support from Caribbean bases like Hispaniola, marks the conventional end of the Postclassic and the transition to colonial institutions under the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

Category:Mesoamerican periods