A densely populated Epiclassic city, tightly planned and with an immense number of ball courts within ceremonial clusters of pyramids and plazas - a fascinating site in a vast volcano-studded plain.
The Epiclassic site of Cantona lies about 90 minutes by car north east of Puebla, near the border with Veracruz state.
Though a well-developed settlement had existed here in Classic times, it was around 600AD that a new phase of development began, with walled walkways and residential compounds springing up.1 The building of the city was planned to a high degree and movement within the urban area seems to have been highly controlled, with single access points to each walled residential compound, and walkways and entry gates controlling access to the sacred acropolis - it must have been quite a claustrophobic place to live with all the walls and restricted access.
In addition, the whole city was fortified and a moat was built at its most vulnerable point. The rulers appear to have feared attack from outside as well as unrest inside the densely populated city.
One of the sources of wealth for the city, if not its major resource, must have been the Oyamales-Zaragoza obsidian outcrop, only 10km away.1 Formed by rapidly cooling volcanic lava, the resulting black glassy material is very smooth and extremely sharp. Obsidian was highly valued to make tools of all kinds: scrapers, knives, spear tips etc. as well as to make decorative items.
A huge site, its singular claim to fame is the number of ball courts - 27 found so far, 15 of these within aligned architectural ceremonial complexes.
We began in the on-site museum which has some of the fascinating artefacts found here and a detailed history of the development of the city, divided into four phases. The first period is characterised by rapid urban development between 600BC and 50AD over 333 hectares. The walled living compounds were built, obsidian was mined, and Cantona traded throughout south and south east Mexico. At the end of this stage there were 16 ball courts, six of which formed part of planned architectural complexes which included a pyramid and plaza, sometimes with an altar.
The second phase lasted until 600AD and was characterised by strengthened ties with other towns and cities underpinned by the exploitation of Oyamales-Zaragoza and the expanding obsidian trade. The city covered 1,100 hectares and there were 20 ball courts, half within aligned complexes.
Over the next roughly 300 years, though the population increased to around 93,000 and building intensified, culturally the city developed very little. It remained, however, the dominant and largest city in the central highlands, covering 1,453 hectares.
The final phase lasted until around 1,050AD as the population declined and the city was abandoned. Whether this was due to climate changes or internal conflict or a combination of both is unknown - Cantona was so well-fortified that it is thought unlikely that it was due to attack from outside.
We walked north along the walled walkway of Calle 1 through residential areas to the steps which lead into the civic and ceremonial centre of the city. At the top it is clear how well the city was fortified, with what appears to be a lookout post with wide views over the surrounding countryside.
Here we encountered our first ball court, number 5, which is part of a sacred cluster, aligned with two plazas and pyramid. This ball court is a classic I shape with the remains of markers set along the central playing surface.
The ball game was part of the ritual aspect of Meso American cultures and often involved some kind of sacrifice or blood-letting.
At the east end of the ball court a plaza leads to a flight of steps up to a second plaza which has a large stone altar with steps on all four sides. On its far side is a pyramid.
We came across several groups of workmen working on excavations and reconstructions. An archaeologist overseeing one group showed us an obsidian arrowhead they had found.
Ball game cluster 7 is another that has two plazas as well as the ball court and a pyramid - it is the largest cluster at Cantona.
There are strong indications that the cluster was dedicated to the fertility of the soil and crop production: in the ball court two phallic statues representing sowing seed were found, the burial of a child wearing a necklace of green stones was found - the stones represent raindrops.
Plaza Oriente, east of cluster 7, is the easternmost element in this monumental series of pyramids, ball courts and plazas at Cantona. Its pyramid is aptly called El Mirador - the views are stupendous!
From Plaza Oriente we worked our way back across the site exploring more of the archaeology on the south side.
We passed many more pyramids and through a large area flanked by extensive terracing which it is speculated may have been a market place or similar commercial area.
We came back to the western residential area about three hours after we'd set out. Cantona is a massive site and takes some time to explore properly, but it is well worth the effort for the extensive restoration of this densely populated city and the impressive ceremonial area, not to mention the incredible number of ball courts!