Lake Texcoco - History

History

In the Pleistocene era, the lake occupied an even greater area. There were several paleo-lakes that would connect with each other from time to time. At the north in the modern community of San Miguel Tocuila there is a great paleontological field, with a lot of pleistocenic fauna. The disarticulated remains of seven mammoths dated between 10,220 ± 75 and 12,615 ± 95 years (BP) were found, suggesting human presence.

Agriculture around the lake began about 7,000 years ago, with humans following the patterns of periodic inundations of the lake.

On the northeast side of the lake, between 1700 and 1250 BCE, several villages appear. By 1250 BCE, the identifying signs of the Tlatilco culture, including more complex settlements and a stratified social structure, are seen around the lake. By roughly 800 BCE, Cuicuilco had eclipsed the Tlatilco cultural centers and was the major power in the Valley of Mexico during the next 200 years, when its famous conical pyramid was built. The Xitle volcano destroyed Cuicuilco around 30 CE, a destruction that may have given rise to Teotihuacan.

After the fall of Teotihuacan, 600–800 CE, several other city states appeared around the lake, including Xoloc, Azcapotzalco, Tlacopan, Coyohuacan, Culhuacán, Chimalpa and Chimalhuacán – mainly from Toltec and Chichimeca influence. None of these predominated and they coexisted more or less in peace for several centuries. This time was described as a Golden age in Aztec chronicles. By the year 1300, however, the Tepanec from Azcapotzalco were beginning to dominate the area. If Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztec Empire, and Mexico City the capital of Mexico, then Lake Texcoco is the Lake of the capitals, and therefore very important to Mesoamerican history.