A Long Mexican Dominance: A New Look at the Relations of Teotihuacan with Tikal, Dzibanche, and Other Maya Kingdoms between Middle 5th and Middle 6th Centuries

The article addresses a problem that remains one of the most interesting, controversial, and difficult in the study of the history of Mesoamerican civilizations in the Early Classic Period. The authors argue that the supremacy of Teotihuacan over Tikal and other Maya cities lasted longer and was more thorough-going than traditionally believed. Inscriptions from different Peten sites (Tikal Stela 40, El Peru Stela 16, and Uaxactun Stela 22) and the testimony of Tetitla murals are at odds with the thesis, popular in historiography, about a confrontation between Tikal and Teotihuacan in the second half of the 5th century. Analysis of the hieroglyphic texts on Yaxchilan Lintel 37 and on monuments from Piedras Negras and Tonina shows that at least until 508 AD the kings of Tikal remained vassals or allies of the Mexican empire. The idea of a long Teotihuacan ascendancy, proposed on the basis of such evidence, directly affects our understanding of those turning-point developments that in the mid-6th century determined the further course of Classic Maya history — namely the weakening of Tikal and the rise of the Kanul kings. Circumstantial evidence suggests that during the era of Teotihuacan dominance Tikal and Dzibanche were allies and each represented the interests of the Mexican metropolis in its own region. However, in the mid-6th century Teotihuacan faced considerable internal difficulties and apparently could no longer control the far periphery. As a result, a power vacuum developed in the Maya lowlands. The rulers of both Tikal and Dzibanche tried to seize the now vacant position of hegemon and almost simultaneously assumed the title of kaloomte’, the highest in the Maya political hierarchy, which between 378 and 518 had belonged exclusively to the Mexican foreigners. Their competition for leadership destroyed the hitherto stable political order and led to a series of devastating wars.