Two weeks ago, Julie and I visited the archaeological project
at Cerro Toloche, just north of the center of Toluca. The project has finished
a topographic mapping of the hill, surveyed the surface for artifacts, and are
currently digging systematic test pits across the whole hill. Daniel Granados, who is the field director
for the project, took our survey methods into consideration when he was
developing his own, so hopefully we will be able to compare the two datasets. They plan start more extensive excavations
this fall.
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| Toluca from the top of Cerro Toloche. Note the location of the cathedral. |
Cerro Toloche was the center of Tollocan, or prehispanic
Toluca. The site is only five or six
kilometers from Calixtlahuaca and the relationship between the two prior to the
Aztec conquest is unclear. (For that matter,
whether the Tollocan existed prior to the Aztec conquest of the region is open
to question.)
From the archaeological evidence so far, it looks like
Cerro Toloche had at least two groups of monumental architecture and a primarily Postclassic occupation. The artifacts the project has recovered so
far look very similar to the ones from Calixtlahuaca, with a mix of Matlatzinca
and Aztec sherds, plus a few figurines from earlier time periods. Hopefully the
excavations will clear up whether there is a single, mixed Matlazinca/Aztec
component or a primarily Matlatzinca component followed by a mixed one.
