The municipality of Tamuín encompasses three of the most important sites of the Huastec culture: Tamtok, El Consuelo, and Tzintzin-Lujub.
Tamtok Tamtok or Tamtoc is a site of the highest importance in the archaeological history of the Huasteca region. Situated in a plain within a large bend of the Tampaón River and dominated by two great natural hills which are often at first glance mistaken for pyramids, the site comprises 50 small and medium sized mounds. There is a ceremonial plaza bordered by 23 buildings, with five platforms for conducting rituals occupying the center, which are surrounded by 13 round habitations and two rectangular, terraced large buildings which were probably for community use. The complex allows one to imagine what the religious life of the noble families of Tamtok must have been like. They may have believed in gods and practiced a fertility cult. Tamtok means
place of the water clouds [sic] in the
Wastek language. It occupies 133 hectares on the banks of the Tamuín River, an hour's drive by highway from Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí. It was discovered at the end of the 19th century. In about 1937 the first report was made of archaeological monuments located in what was then the El Aserradero ranch, where Tamtok lies. In recent times, some have argued that the ancient city might have been as big as
Teotihuacán. Between 1962 and 1965 the French archaeologist Stresser-Péan surveyed the area and conducted partial excavations. The work of restoration began 6 August 2001. Up to that point, the site had been virtually unknown. With an investment of 18 million pesos, in these four years of work 70 structures have been stabilized out of 255 discovered. Tamtok enjoyed its period of maximum splendor between 200 and 1300 A.D., during which period its population rose to 4,000. To judge by the artefacts discovered, it was a well-organized society based on agriculture. In the complex, an urbanism unique in
Mesoamerica has been identified. One characteristic that distinguishes Tamtok is the large presence of women. For example, 90 percent of the human remains discovered in the zone are women, and the great majority of the clay and ceramic figurines that have been found represent women.
El Consuelo Situated southeast of the city of Tamuín, El Consuelo is accessed by federal highway 70 in the direction of the Gulf port of Tampico. At kilometer 284 it connects with state highway 170. The site entrance is six kilometers down on state highway 170. The archaeological zone is known by the names Tamuín, for the
municipio, and El Consuelo, for the ranch which occupies the vicinity. The village of Tamuín or Tamohí, a word which means "place of effervescence" in Wastek, was built between the 8th and 16th centuries and was depopulated at the time of the Spanish conquest. Among the major archaeological zones of Huastecawhich runs from the south of Tamaulipas State east to the northern part of Veracruz State and south to the eastern parts of the States of San Luis Potosí and Hidalgoare Tancol, Las Flores,
Castillo de Teayo, Tantoc (Tamtok), Agua Nueva, and Yahualica. The El Consuelo site is representative of the Huastec culture in the last centuries of pre-Hispanic Mexico. The region's cultural development partook of the elements characteristic of the ancient cultures of North America. When its inhabitants dispersed during the first years of the conquest, they settled in the
poblado known in today as Antiguo Tamuín (Old Tamuín), six kilometers from El Consuelo. The first mention of the site is due to Walter Staub, who in 1919 published an article with photographs of various sculptures. By 1946, the investigator Wilfrido Du Solier conducted excavations in El Consuelo ranch and in several buildings and discovered the so called Polychrome Altar. Work was discontinued until 1981 when numerous architectural elements were stabilized. In 1990 the work of exploring and reconstructing the Great Platform commenced. Among the most important objects encountered at the site are the sculpture, found in 1917, known as the Huastec Adolescent, probably a representation of the god Quetzalcóatl in his youth and considered one of the masterpieces of pre-Hispanic art in Huastec culture. Also important is the mural which covers one of the altars, in which is seen, in a series of images, personages with rich vestments. The figures are conspicuous for their originality and quality and the ceramic art of the
Preclassic period.
Tzintzin-Lujub Archaeological site today known as Agua Nueva, located within the “El Huracán” ranch, property of Celestino Rivera and Claudio Sánchez, 18.7 kilometers from the highway between Tamuín and San Vicente Tancuayalab. == See also ==