Castillo de Teayo

Castillo de Teayo is a prehispanic Mesoamerican archaeological site and pyramid in the Huasteca region of northern Veracruz, Mexico. It is reached by Federal Highway 130 México-Tuxpan up to the city of Teayo. The site belongs to the Huastec culture and is estimated to have been inhabited between the 10th and 12th centuries. The modern settlement and municipality of Castillo de Teayo grew up around the ancient pyramid and took their name from it.

The place appears in the Tuxpan Canvas as the Teayotlán glyph. One version holds that the name comes from the Huastec word teayo or teayoc, meaning on the stone turtle, and another derives it from the Nahuatl Teayok, turtle on stone. The site used to be called Tzapotlán.

It was home to one of the ancient Huastec cities, and in the Late Postclassic period it developed a strong Mexica influence. The village also had relationships with Toltec groups from the Mexican Plateau, and one version holds that the sculptural style corresponds to a Toltec occupation. Specialists regard the architecture of the only remaining building as of Aztec filiation.

The pyramid stands in the center of the town, in a valley. Its square plan has sides of about 24 meters and a height of more than 11 meters, and it consists of three slightly inclined bodies separated by a landing. A stairway rises to a structure that crowned the building, probably a temple, and a small flat molding runs around its perimeter at 1.40 meters high. Sculptures of different sizes and styles once surrounded it and are now kept in the small site museum, where some show a phallic style of worship.

Humidity has damaged the stucco and walls, and the pyramid shows serious damage. Inhabitants are unhappy about the neglect, pointing to the lack of palm roofing that would protect the structure from water and moisture. The site museum holds mostly stone sculptures of gods, animals and human figures from northern Veracruz, chiefly from Castillo de Teayo itself.

This site was home to one of the ancient Huastec cities. Its occupation periods are calculated from the 10th to the 12th centuries, and during the Late Postclassic period it developed a strong Mexica influence. In the center of the town is a pyramidal-shaped building that preserves part of its entire structure, with a stairway and a structure that crowned the building, probably a temple, and it is one of the few buildings of this type remaining in the Mesoamerican area. Sculptures found in the surrounding area are kept in the small site museum. Their stylistic features depict phallic worship, very common in some cultural regions. More information is available in the small site museum which contains sculptures found during excavations of the city. Some of the sculptures that were found in the area characterized a cult-like phallic style, very popular in some ancient cultures.

This site combines various cultural traditions, first the Huastec (10th to 12th centuries), and the Aztec, in the late Postclassical. According to specialists, the architecture of the only remaining building is of Aztec filiation, although the village also had relationships with Toltec groups from the Mexican Plateau.

The Olmec-Huixtotin culture became the Cuexteca or Huastec culture. In relation to the Maya and Toltec societies, there was an important influence on the site sculptures. However, there is another version that says that the sculptural style corresponds to a Toltec occupation.

The Huastec culture developed south of the current states of Tamaulipas, north of Veracruz, east of San Luis Potosí and small areas of the states of Puebla, Querétaro and Hidalgo. Although this geographic-cultural regionalization has not been stable through time, Teayo Castle is included in this region.