El TajÃn
El Tajín *
* This name is listed on the World Heritage List. ª The region is classified by UNESCO.
El Tajín (Spanish - totonakisch " The Blitz" ) is a pre-Columbian ruined city near the east coast of Mexico near the town of Papantla, southeast of Poza Rica de Hidalgo in the state of Veracruz. The may have been temporarily capital of Tachiwin ( Aztec Totonac ), has several large, pyramid-shaped Ziggurat and was abandoned 800 years ago. According to her, the Tajín culture was named.
History
The city was probably founded in the 1st century BC by the Totonac, they probably also used as its capital. El Tajin was the god of wind, Huracan and lightning, Tajín, after whom the city was named, ordained. The heyday was from 700 AD to 900 in 1200, the site was abandoned. It is believed that the Toltecs reigned for a while over El Tajín.
Culture and Structures
The main pyramid is the so-called niche pyramid ( Piramide de los Nichos ).
It is 25 m high and 1225 square meters. The pyramid has 365 niches, which most likely meant to symbolize a solar year. El Tajín is also known for its cultural ballgame, possibly ended with human sacrifices. In this game, the teams had to ( the number of players is not known, however, there are pictures that show a total of four people) carry the ball with his hip in a high-altitude ring. This ball was a hard rubber ball, which is why the players also have a big belt, from which stone pictures exist wore. It is believed that either the losers or winners were then decapitated, and it is clear that the ritual sacrifice at that time was considered a great honor. Today there are 10 ball courts. The most famous is the Juego de Pelota Sur with 60 m length.
This ritual was originally performed only on certain feast days in honor of the gods of fertility, such as Xipe Totec and Tlazolteotl. In other pre-Columbian cities, there were ritual ball courts in the area of the temples, such as Tikal (Guatemala).
Los Voladores
Even today, shown several times in El Tajín on the day an old fertility ritual of the Totonac, the Danza del Volador. Four men ( Voladores ) symbolize the four winds, a fifth man is a symbol of the sun.
Dancing the four men to move to the root. They welcome the trunk and encircle him several times. Then the four winds embark on the tip of the root.
The last climb of the fifth as a sun on the top of the stem. He sits to the east and begins to play with a small drum and a flute, while the 4 winds clockwise wrap the rope around the abdomen. The sun now welcomes the four cardinal directions with their game. She turns to this one after the other and dancing on the top. Then the four winds can upside down slowly with 13 turns on the ground. The sun is playing during this time the drum and flute. After the four winds have reached the earth, the sun goes down on the ground on the trunk or on one of the cables.
This ritual was formerly used in the preparation of young men 20 to 25 years. The Voladores went a week before the ritual on the search for a suitable tree. Before the cases they danced in his honor and asked permission for the cases. Only then the tree was with great caution like, so that as little pain as possible be done to him. The chosen tree trunk had at least 25 m high and the rope length to be accurately measured, so that the four flying Voladores reach exactly 13 orbits of the tribe, which symbolize a period of 52 ( 4x13 ) years.
The clothes of the Voladores is still a red pants, a white shirt, a red band around the hips, and a feather headdress.
Today
1785 the site of Diego Ruiz was rediscovered after the Spaniards were probably already been in the 16th century. In the early 19th century visited Guillermo Dupaix, Alexander von Humboldt ( 1811) and Carl fog El Tajín. 1934 saw the first excavations. Less than a quarter of the site has been excavated.
1992 El Tajín was a UNESCO World Heritage Site