Yayahuala — Tula Grande Residential Zone
Yayahuala Tula · Palace of Yayahuala
Epiclassic–Early Postclassic Tollan 900–1150 CE·Toltec (Tollan)·🇲🇽 Hidalgo, Tula de Allende, Mexico
About
About Yayahuala — Tula Grande Residential Zone
Elite residential palace compound 1 km north of Tula Grande Burned Palace (900–1150 CE): U-shaped palace 50×40 m with 20 rooms, vestibule, temazcal, maguey-processing ovens and Toltec braziers, linked to Tula via raised causeway. Part of UNESCO Tula core context (Tollan). Mastache interpreted as Toltec noble lineage house controlling maguey pulque tribute, with imported Tohil plumbate and Chichen Itza slateware — imperial barrio, not suburb.
Why it mattersDocuments Toltec barrio system beyond pyramids; reveals maguey economy funding Tollan imperial courts.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whose lineage — Quetzalcoatl priesthood?
- 02Pulque ovens ritual vs economic
Theories
- 01Yayahuala as Tollan pochteca merchant quarter
- 02Palace as primordial calpulli lineage house
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.900–1050 CE
- Period
- Epiclassic–Early Postclassic Tollan 900–1150 CE
- Culture
- Toltec (Tollan)
- Builders
- Toltec
- Purpose
- Elite lineage palace and maguey-pulque workshop for tribute
- Abandoned
- c.1150–1165 (Tula fire)
- Rediscovered
- 1940s Acosta excavates Tula; Mastache 1978 Yayahuala
- Excavation
- Excavated
900
Yayahuala palace founded
1150
Burned and abandoned with Tollan fall
On the ground
Structures & features
20.0639° N · 99.3408° W · 2090 m · 2 mapped features
Yayahuala Palace
palaceU-shaped 20-room palace with courtyard and altars
20.0642° N · 99.3405° WCauseway to Burned Palace
causewayRaised causeway linking Yayahuala barrio to Tula Grande plaza
20.0635° N · 99.3415° W