CHAPTER 2 LATE POSTCLASSIC MESOAMERICA 87Several decades before the arrival of the Spaniards, the K’iche’ empire began to
break apart. By the late fifteenth century, K’iche’ hegemony was seriously curtailed
by the Kaqchikels, who had broken away and founded their own capital at the site of
Iximché in the late 1400s (see Chapter 3). Like Q’umarkaaj, Iximché was situated in
a defensible location, surrounded on three sides by steep ravines. Iximché remains
an important symbolic center today for contemporary Mayan residents of highland
Guatemala who are proud of their enduring heritage in this region (see Chapter 8).West Mexico
In West Mexico, the Tarascan or Purépecha state ruled over a vast territory that ri-
valed the Aztec empire in territory. The Tarascans ruled from their capital at
Tzintzuntzan on the shores of Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacán. By the Late Postclassic
period, Tzintzuntzan was an important city with as many as 35,000 inhabitants. Within
the city were the burial-temple platforms of kings (Figure 2.10); other religious
shrines; civil-administrative buildings; storehouses; artisan workshops; and the resi-
dences of elites, commoners, and foreigners.
Aztec attempts to conquer Tarascan territories were met with stiff resistance. The
Tarascans had a well-trained military, and they maintained forts along their borders
(see Chapter 3). West Mexico is well known for the metal goods produced there, in-
cluding copper, bronze, and gold objects (see Box 1.3).Figure 2.10 Temple mound at the Tarascan capital of Tzintzuntzan in West Mexico. After
Ignacio Marquina, Arquitectura prehispanica,Mexico City, Mexico: Instituto Nacional de
Anthropología e Historia, 1951, p. 256.