Editing Toltec (section)

==Archaeology==
[[File:Pirámide tula.jpg|thumb|Pyramid C at [[Tula (Mesoamerican site)|Tula, Hidalgo]]]]

Some archaeologists, such as [[Richard Diehl]], argue for the existence of a Toltec [[Horizon (archaeology)|archaeological horizon]] characterized by certain stylistic traits associated with Tula, Hidalgo and extending to other cultures and polities in Mesoamerica. Traits associated with this horizon are include the Mixtec-Puebla style{{sfnp|Nicholson|2020|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} of iconography, Tohil plumbate ceramic ware, and Silho or X-Fine Orange Ware ceramics.{{sfnp|Diehl|1993|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} The presence of stylistic traits associated with Tula in [[Chichén Itzá]] is also taken as evidence for a Toltec horizon. The nature of interaction between Tula and Chichén Itzá has been especially controversial, with scholars arguing for either military conquest of Chichén Itzá by the Toltec, Chichén Itzá establishing Tula as a colony, or only loose connections between the two. Whether the Mixteca-Puebla art style has any meaning is also disputed.{{sfnp|Smith|Heath-Smith|1980|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}

A contrary viewpoint is argued in a 2003 study by [[Michael E. Smith (archaeologist)|Michael E. Smith]] and Lisa Montiel, who compare the archaeological record related to Tula Hidalgo to those of the polities centered in [[Teotihuacan]] and [[Tenochtitlan]]. They conclude that relative to the influence exerted in Mesoamerica by Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan, Tula's influence on other cultures was negligible and was probably not deserving of being defined as an [[empire]], but more of a kingdom. While Tula does have the urban complexity expected of an imperial capital, its influence and dominance were not very far reaching.{{sfnp|Smith|Montiel|2001}} Evidence for Tula's participation in extensive trade networks has been uncovered; for example, the remains of a large [[obsidian]] workshop.{{sfnp|Healan|1989|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}}

=== Material culture at Tula Grande ===
At its height, Tula Grande had an estimated population of as many as 60,000 and covered 16 square kilometers of hills, plains, valleys, and marsh.<ref name="auto1"/> Some of the most prominent examples of the Toltec material culture at the site include pyramids, ball-courts, and the [[Atlantean figures|Atlantean warrior sculptures]] on top of Pyramid B.<ref name="auto">{{Citation |last=Smith |first=Michael E. |title=Toltec Empire |date=2016-01-11 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe020 |work=The Encyclopedia of Empire |pages=1–2 |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |access-date=2022-03-12}}</ref> Various civic buildings surrounding a central plaza are especially distinctive, as excavations show the use of columns inside these buildings and in surrounding colonnades. One of these buildings, known as Building 3, is argued to have been a symbolically powerful building for the Toltec due to its reference in architecture to the historic and mythic homes of the people's ancestors.<ref>{{Cite book |editor1-last=Kowalski |editor1-first=Jeff Karl |editor2-last=Kristin-Graham |editor2-first=Cynthia  |title=Twin Tollans: Chichén Itzá, Tula, and the epiclassic to early postclassic Mesoamerican world |date=2011 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection |isbn=978-0-88402-372-2 |oclc=916484803}}</ref>

The physical layout of the broader plaza also partakes in referencing a shared past; its sunken colonnaded hall units are incredibly similar to those at cities of Tula's ancestral peoples. Importantly, these halls are known to have served as places to engage with both regional and long-distance trade networks and were possibly also used for diplomatic relations, suggesting that Tula Grande used these structures for a similar end. To that point, imported goods at Tula Grande shows that the Toltecs indeed interacted commercially with sites throughout Mesoamerica; shared ceramic and ritual figurine styles between Tula and regions such as Socunusco supplement this idea.<ref name="auto" /><ref name="auto1" />

Additionally, surveys of Tula Grande have suggested the existence of an "extensive and highly specialized workshop-based obsidian industry," at the site that could have been one of the sources of the city's economic and political power, taking on Teotihuacan's previous role as the region's distributor.<ref name="auto1" /> A survey done by Healan et al. recovered roughly 16,000 pieces of obsidian from the site's urban zone and over 25,000 from its surrounding residential areas. Tula's involvement in obsidian trade is also evidence for the city's interaction with another powerful city in the region, Chichén Itzá, as the vast majority of obsidian at both sites comes from the same two geological sources.