The Toltec: Warriors

Columns in the form of Toltec warriors (Atlantean figures) in Tula - c. 750 CE (earliest possible date) - Limestone, Sandstone, and Volcanic Rock (click photo for larger image)The term “Pre-Columbian” is used to refer to the cultures (and art) of the New World, in the era before significant European influence. While technically referring to the era before Christopher Columbus, in practice the term usually includes indigenous cultures as they continued to develop until they were conquered, even centuries after Columbus first landed in 1492 CE. “Pre-Columbian” also refers to the great indigenous civilizations of the New World, in which Mesoamerica (including the Aztec and Maya) are included.

The Toltec is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca. 900–1168 CE). The Toltecs were a warrior culture with dark, ruthless gods who demanded conquest and sacrifice. Their art reflected this: there are many depictions of gods, warriors, and priests in Toltec art

The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tula as the epitome of civilization; in the Nahuatl language the word Tōltēcah came to take on the meaning “artisan". Perhaps ironically, the Toltec tribes participated in Cortes’ attacks on the Aztecs, and contributed to the fall of the Aztec empire.

The figures represented here are considered to be "massive statues of Toltec warriors". They take their name from the European tradition of similar Atlas or Atlante figures in classical architecture.