CHAPTER 2 LATE POSTCLASSIC MESOAMERICA 81Figure 2.3 Mixtec artist-scribe as
portrayed in the Codex Vindobonensis.
After Jill Leslie Furst, Codex Vindobonensis
Mexicanus I: A Commentary,Publication
No. 4. Albany, New York: Institute for
Mesoamerican Studies, SUNY, 1978,
p. 125.than intrusive Mixtec populations, may best explain Mixtec presence and influence
in the valley. The Mixtec pictoral codices chronicle foundation myths and historical
events of Postclassic dynasties, and represent a rich corpus of historical indigenous
documents for Mesoamerica at this time (Figure 2.3; see also Figure 6.5).
Yucatan. Mayapán succeeded Chichén Itzá as the primary center of the
Yucatán Peninsula from around 1200–1441 (Figure 2.4). Mayapán dominated
Yucatán for over two centuries, and its builders emulated some of Chichén Itzá’s
architectural features (colonnaded halls, feathered serpent column pyramids,
round structures), and eliminated others (ballcourt, gallery-patio compounds).
Native Colonial accounts claim that lords of Mayapán defeated Chichén Itzá and
broke up its alliance network through an act of treachery, and founders of
Mayapán claimed to revitalize some earlier Mayan traditions. Archaeologically, this
is visible in the erection of stelae at the site (absent from Chichén Itzá) and in a
Mayapán effigy censer tradition that portrayed many traditional Mayan gods
recognizable from Classic period art (Figure 2.5).
Mayapán was organized quite differently from Chichén Itzá; unlike the latter it
is a densely settled, highly nucleated urban center (4.5 square kilometers), largely
contained within a circumferential outer wall. This Postclassic capital controlled
much of the northwest peninsula, and its governors presided over councils of lords
from affiliated territories. Mayapán maintained strong political and economic ties