Ancient Civilizations of the AmericasLecture 10

El Tajín

•Region is presently inhabited by Totonac people, however, Terence Kaufman has proposed that the Totonacs displaced the Huastecs around AD 1100 on the basis of Huastec loan word for plants and animals in the Totonac language. Huastec is a Mayan language.

•In the Early Classic El Tajín was a small polity dominated by Teotihuacan.

•Present ruins date from the 9th to 11th centuries AD. (Terminal Classic).

•Settlement covers several thousand acres.

•Settelment has 12 ball courts.