Mexican archæology : $b an introduction to the archæology of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations of pre-Spanish AmericaJoyce, Thomas Athol
History
Mexican archæology : $b an introduction to the archæology of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations of pre-Spanish America
Joyce, Thomas Athol
Mayas -- Antiquities; Mexico -- Antiquities
point in confirmation of this may perhaps be extracted from the fact
that certain tribes called Tepeu Oliman (Popol Vuh), or Tapcu Oloman
(Kakchiquel annals), are associated with this particular region, while
the inhabitants of the latter were known to the Mexicans as Olmec.
Tulan, the starting-point therefore, cannot be identified with the
Zuiva, or Tulan Zuiva near Nonoual, nor indeed is there any need that
such an identification should be made. The original Tulan, wherever it
lay, was regarded evidently as the home of a large number of peoples,
and there is a tendency, visible all over the world, for migrating
tribes to name their subsequent settlements after their original or
legendary birthplace. Perhaps the best example of this propensity is
presented by the number of Hawaikis scattered over the Pacific, Hawaiki
being the name of the original starting-point of Polynesian migrations.
That this Tulan Zuiva near Nonoual was an important kingdom in the
youth of the Quiché and Kakchiquel peoples is obvious; the Kakchiquel
admit defeat at the hands of its inhabitants, and though it is not
expressly so stated, the account of the Popol Vuh seems to indicate
that the _insignia_ of temporal power were obtained from the ruler
of this district, a chief named Nacxit. The name Nacxit is interesting,
since Tezozomoc states that it was an appellation of Quetzalcoatl, and
we have already observed the importance which the Mexican immigrants
attached to Toltec blood as giving the possessor the right to reign,
Tulan being closely associated with this god. That there were more
Tulans than one seems evident from the Kakchiquel statement that
there were four, although the number quoted appears to have a certain
ceremonial reference to the points of the compass. That the Quiché and
Kakchiquel had come in contact with the later Nahua immigrants into the
Mexican valley seems evident both from certain points of similarity
in their migration legends, and also from the highly important fact
that they used the bow, a weapon which was unknown to the Tutul Xiu
until a later date. From these considerations, and also from the
evidence afforded by the short list of kings which the legends of these
tribes furnish, one feels inclined to regard the Tulan from which they
started as the region ruled by the Toltec of the Mexican valley, and
to conjecture that the Tulan Zuiva with which Nonoual was connected,
was perhaps one of the now ruined sites in the Usumacinta basin. The
association of the word Zuiva with the original Tulan in the Quiché
account may be due to one of two causes. It may on the one hand be the
result of confusion, or on the other it is possible that “Tulan” and
“Zuiva” may be the same name but belong to different dialects. The
question which Tulan gave the name to the other is more complex, and
can only be decided after the date of these ruins has been discussed,
but it may be mentioned that there is nothing inherently impossible in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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