Description
This is a small settlement that was subjugated by the Acolhua. It maintains a westward-facing pyramid, which is unusual for Mesoamerica and leads us to suppose that it was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. There are rooms next to the pyramid in which the rulers lived.
Historical overview
In Los Reyes Acaquilpan lies the archeological site of Los Reyes (“The Kings”), which consists of a large platform. At the top of this platform, we can see a pyramid-shaped structure of three stepped sections, which was built in three stages from the Early Postclassic (1100-1200 AD) to the Late Postclassic (1200-1521 AD). The structure indicates that this was a small settlement which formed part of the political-territorial dynamics of the province of Acolhuacan.
Los Reyes’ pyramid platform architecture is a good example of the construction techniques prevalent in the Valley of Mexico during the Postclassic. The building is oriented east-west in order to follow the course of the sun. On the structure’s south side are the ruins of an attached residential unit.
The settlement began to develop during the Mazapa phase (800-1100 AD), as shown by the remains of Toltec culture that have been found. By the Late Postclassic (1200-1430 AD), the area was reoccupied by the Toltec-Chichameca, whose center was in Tenayuca.
Later, during the influx of the Mexica into the basin of Mexico, the Los Reyes site could have come under the dominion of Chimalhuacan, which in turn rendered tribute to Texcoco until the arrival of the Spanish.