Introduction to my El Tajin

Introduction

This is a work in progress, please check back

This is a personal account of my impressions of El Tajin from my study, two visits, and my VR of this fascinating archeological site.

El Tajin is located in Mexico, in the northern part of the state of Veracruz. The site was apparently built and occupied from around 900 AD to 1200 AD. To better understand the historical context, and physical location, please see its location in time and space.

In the course of my study,I have felt that some relationships did not get noted which seem to me important. Unfortunately my Spanish is not good enough to comfortably read much of the literature in Spanish so I have probably missed some good points.

The photographs are ones that I have taken on my two trips.

The time line chart should not to be taken too literally, as there is always more information being found about mesoamerican pre-history.

My experiences with El Tajin are from three sources:

two trips to the site separated by about 7 years,
study at the Central American collection at the University of Texas in Austin and
a VE (virtual environment) that I built of the site based on the topographic map(Rend386).

Pyramid of the Niches

The Pyramid of the Niches was first noticed by a European in the late 1700's It was thought to be the only structure on the site for many years (the rest of the site was "lost" in the lush vegetation). El Tajin has been described as the second largest archeological site in Mexico. When I was there in 1997 they had identified almost 200 structures.

I recommend "history" next

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