It would certainly be appropriate to describe the Toltecs as an enigmatic culture of Mesoamerica.

Historians have felt the challenge of piecing together their story based purely on archaeology and oral traditions.

Those oral traditions were mainly discovered through the Aztecs, who held the Toltecs in high esteem and regarded them as their noble ancestors.

The Toltecs were a culture of celebrated warriors, and their greatest warriors were indeed the celebrities of their societies.

The Toltecs were constructors with admirable architecture and sculpting abilities.

The artefacts excavated from their key site of Tula demonstrate a sophisticated society of artismry.

Glimpses of the extent of Toltec influence have been discovered in Mesoamerica suggesting that the Toltecs may have been a powerful society at their peak period in American history.

This episode endeav endeavors to uncover the truth

behind the mysterious Toltecs.

The History of the World podcast, written and presented by Chris Hasler. Volume 4 The Medieval World Episode 87

The Toltex

The Tulltecs

The During the previous volume of the podcast, we discussed the mysterious ancient Mexican city of Teotuakhan.

When referring to the Toltec culture, it is suggested that the Toltecs emerged following the decline

of the Teutuacanos. But there are disagreements about how and when exactly this happened.

This is because the nature of the decline of the Teotihuacanus is relatively unknown. We can say the same of the emergence

of the Toltecs, with many scholars regarding the 10th century as the time when the Toltecs

emerged. But historical references to a time when the Toltecs emerged.

But historical references to a people called the Toltecs or the Tolteca stretched back many centuries previous.

Due to the more well-known Aztecs holding their predecessors the Toltecs in such high regard, it would make sense for the Aztecs to sensationalise the Toltec story. So we have to regard the historical references passed to us by the

Aztec oral tradition very carefully. Some of those oral traditions were written during the 16th century after the

arrival of the Spanish within a codex called the Codex Chimalpapa. Part of the codex

...