Editing Toltec (section)

== Origins of society at Tula ==
While the exact origins of the culture are unclear, it likely developed from a mixture of the [[Nonoalca]] people from the southern Gulf Coast and a group of sedentary Chichimeca from northern Mesoamerica. The former of these is believed to have composed the majority of the new culture and were influenced by the Mayan culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prem |first=Hanns J. |title=The ancient Americas: a brief history and guide to research |date=1997 |publisher=University of Utah Press |isbn=0-585-13359-X |location=Salt Lake City |pages=22 |oclc=43476754}}</ref> During Teotihuacan's apogee in the Early Classic period, these people were tightly integrated into the political and economic systems of the state and formed large settlements in the Tula region, most notably Villagran and Chingu.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Michael E. |last2=Diehl |first2=Richard A. |last3=Berlo |first3=Janet Catherine |date=1993 |title=Mesoamerica ''after the Decline of Teotihuacan A. D. 700-900 ''|journal=Ethnohistory |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=143 |doi=10.2307/482182 |issn=0014-1801}}</ref> 

Beginning around 650 CE, the majority of these settlements were abandoned as a result of Teotihuacan's decline. The Coyotlatelco rose as the dominant culture in the region. It is with the Coyotlatelco that Tula, as it relates to the Toltec, was founded along with a number of hilltop communities.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal |last=Healan |first=Dan M. |last2=Cobean |first2=Robert H. |date=2012-09-24 |title=Tula and the Toltecs |journal=Oxford Handbooks Online |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195390933.013.0026}}</ref> 

Tula Chico, as the settlement is referred to during this phase, grew into a small regional state out of the consolidation of the surrounding Coyotlatelco sites. The settlement was roughly three to six square kilometers in size with a gridded urban plan and a relatively large population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Michael E. |date=1993 |title=Review of Mesoamerica after the Decline of Teotihuacan A. D. 700-900 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/482182 |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=143–144 |doi=10.2307/482182 |issn=0014-1801|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The complexity of the main plaza was especially distinct from other Coyotlatelco sites in the area, as it had [[Mesoamerican ballgame|multiple ball courts]] and [[Mesoamerican pyramids|pyramids]]. The Toltec culture, as it is understood during its peak, can be tied directly to Tula Chico; after the site was burned and abandoned at the end of the Epiclassic period, Tula Grande was soon constructed bearing strong similarities 1.5 kilometers to the south.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Healan |first=Dan M. |url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195390933.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195390933-e-26 |title=Tula and the Toltecs |last2=Cobean |first2=Robert H. |date=2012-09-24 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195390933.013.0026}}</ref> It is during the Early Postclassic period that Tula Grande and its associated Toltec culture would become the dominant force in the broader region.