528 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193 8 



potzalco. The break from the primitive to the regulation Aztec 

 style of architecture accords well with the historical data, which 

 describe Quiiiatzin's becoming civilized and moving to Texcoco in 

 1298 and the arrival of Mixtecs and other tribes in 1328. A resem- 

 blance, too close to be entirely coincidence, exists between the tradi- 

 tion of the Mixtecs having brought knowledge of writing in 1328 and 

 the Period 2 and 3 style of decoration which seems based more upon 

 the fluid principle of writing than the previous labored method of 

 painting designs in geometric fashion. 



We have traced our way to the last half of the thirteenth century. 

 Our records have become very hazy, and we now meet the Mazapan 

 culture, the fourth level in the valley. The chronicles tell of the 

 incursions of the Chichimecs who brought an end to the Teotihuacan 

 culture some time in the twelfth century. We can rely no longer on 

 ceremonial dumps, but we can achieve a relative dating in another 

 way. Two trade wares are found in the Mazapan culture, Plumbate, 

 a natural glazed pottery perhaps made in Salvador, and Fine Orange, 

 which is common on the Isla de Sacrificios in Vera Cruz. Both these 

 wares are frequently found in Chichen Itza in refuse of the Mexican 

 period, which began about 1200 A. D. and lasted until 1458. That 

 the Mazapan culture flowered in the thirteenth century seems ex- 

 tremely probable both because of its stratigraphical position below 

 the Aztec-Texcocan material remains and above those of Teotihuacan, 

 and because of the trade pottery which ties in with thirteenth century 

 refuse heaps at Chichen Itza in Yucatan. The makers must then be 

 some branch of the Chichimec immigrants, who, arriving in Mexico 

 during this period, seem to have assumed distinctive tribal names 

 even as, in adopting a sedentary life, they occupied fixed places of 

 residence. 



Following our method of elimination there seems no reasonable 

 doubt that the Toltecs were the makers of the Teotihuacan civiliza- 

 tion, a thesis which is supported by a great deal of legendary evidence. 

 The long span of the 700-1200 A. D. dates assigned by some to the 

 Toltec Empire agrees well with the traditional evidence and the re- 

 tarded cultural development one would expect of people who could 

 not borrow but had to invent each material and cultural innovation. 

 Furthermore, this hypothetical dating is roughly substantiated by 

 the discovery of the Swedish archeologist, Linne, who found, in a 

 Toltec building on the outskirts of Teotihuacan, Peten Maya trade 

 pottery like that associated with the dated Maya monuments (circa 

 433-889). 



While the historical position of the Valley of Mexico Toltecs seems 

 to be fairly well established by the correlation of archeological and 

 historical data, there is still confusion attendant to the cultural iden- 

 tification of people called by the same name in other districts of 



