Tonatihcan

The extent of Tonatihcan in Asteria Superior

Tonatihcan is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of Ardesia and extends to the border of Vinalia with Chistovodia. In the pre-Asteris era, many societies flourished in Tonatihcan for more than 3,000 years before the Etrurian colonization of the Asterias begun in Ardesia in 1523. In world history, Tonatihcan was the site of two historical transformations: (i) primary urban generation, and (ii) the formation of New World cultures from the mixtures of the indigenous Tonatihcan peoples with the Euclean, Bahian, and Coian peoples who were introduced by the Etrurian and Soravian colonization of the Asterias.

• Ancient Tonatihcan sites
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  Holy Spirit Grotto

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  Itzel

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  Tazumal

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  Socotl

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  San Andres

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  Monkey god in Colel

In the 16th century, Euclean diseases such as smallpox and measles, which were endemic among the colonists but new to Asteria Superior, caused the deaths of upwards of 90% of the indigenous people, resulting in great losses to their societies and cultures. Tonatihcan is one of the six areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently (see cradle of civilization), and the second in the Asterias.

As a cultural area, Tonatihcan is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures. Beginning as early as 7000 BCE, the domestication of cacao, maize, beans, tomato, avocado, vanilla, squash and chili, as well as the turkey, resulted in a transition from paleo-native hunter-gatherer tribal groupings to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent Formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complex mythological and religious tradition, a vigesimal numeric system, a complex calendric system, a tradition of ball playing, and a distinct architectural style, were diffused through the area. Also in this period, villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms. Large ceremonial centers were built, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods, such as obsidian, jade, cacao, cinnabar, and ceramics. While Tonatihcan civilization knew of the wheel and basic metallurgy, neither of these became technologically relevant.

Tonatihcan was part of a greater Asterian commerce and cultural region in the Pre-Asteris Arucian, with civilizations in Tonatihcan being an important aspect. Contributing primarily agricultural items such as maize to the region. Potatoes, and Terre Noire are among the most important aspects introduced into Tonatihcan civilization.

The distinct Tonatihcan cultural tradition ended with the Euclean conquests in the 16th century. Over the next centuries, Tonatihcan indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Euclean colonial rule. Aspects of the Tonatihcan cultural heritage still survive among the indigenous peoples who inhabit Tonatihcan. Many continue to speak their ancestral languages, and maintain many practices harking back to their Tonatihcan roots. In Ardesia and Vinalia a sizeable indigenous population still remains, in a much higher percentage than other Asterian nations.

Etymology and definition

Tonatiuh in the Codex Verlois

The term Tonatihcan comes from the Zapoyan "place of going along the heat", and was coined in 1846 by Ardesian anthropologist Juan de la Vega, who noted the vast similarities in the civilizations of both Ardesia and Vinalia. Although it was believed at the time that indigenous populations in both Ardesia and Vinalia were similar. It wasn't until 1990 when a research team from Chistovodia announced that indigenous populations in both countries were as expected incredibly similar.

The word can also mean "place of the movement of the sun or place of the daytime sun deity" which is based on Tōnatiuh the Zapoyan as the sun deity of the daytime sky who rules the cardinal direction of east. The word can also be interpreted as the land of the eastern sun rise.

Tonatihcan is part of the greater Pre-Asteris Arucian, which featured intensive trade, migration, and cultural exchange between the leading Asterian powers. Although Tonatihcan is recognized for being a much older concept. Close interactions between cultural groups allowed the Zapoyan language to expand beyond the reaches of the region, and the arrival of migrant groups from both north and east, granted the region a great deal of diversity.

Some of the significant cultural traits defining the Tonatihcan cultural tradition are:

• Horticulture and plant use: sedentism based on maize agriculture; floating gardens; use of bark paper and agave.
• Clothing and personal articles: lip plugs, mirrors of polished stone, turbans, sandals with heels, textiles adorned with rabbit hair
• Architecture: construction of stepped pyramids; stucco floors; ball courts with stone rings.
• Record keeping: use of two different calendars; use of locally developed pictographic and hieroglyphic (logo-syllabic) writing systems.
• Commerce: specialized markets, "department store" markets subdivided according to specialty
• Weapons and warfare: wooden swords with stone chips set into the edges, clay pellets for blowguns, cotton-pad armor.
• Ritual and myth: practice of various forms of ritual sacrifice, including human sacrifice and quail sacrifice; paper and rubber as sacrificial offerings; pantheon of gods or spirits.
• Language: Similar languages, with interconnected morphology, and origin.