city state · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Cacaxtla

650 CE – 950 CE (approx.) · capital Cacaxtla

A hilltop palace-city in Tlaxcala, seat of the Olmeca-Xicalanca, whose brilliant murals blend Maya and central Mexican styles.

Origins

After Teotihuacan's decline, Cacaxtla rose around 650 on a fortified hill in southern Tlaxcala, alongside the neighbouring ceremonial centre of Xochitécatl. Later chronicles attribute it to the Olmeca-Xicalanca, a people with Gulf Coast connections who controlled the Puebla-Tlaxcala valley in this period.

Rule and society

Cacaxtla's Great Platform held palaces, plazas and shrines protected by ditches and walls. Its murals, painted between about 650 and 900, show a battle between jaguar and bird warriors and richly dressed figures with symbols of trade, in a style strongly influenced by the Maya. They suggest a cosmopolitan elite tied to long-distance trade between the highlands and the Gulf.

Decline and legacy

Cacaxtla was abandoned around 950, and the Olmeca-Xicalanca were displaced by incoming groups, later including the founders of Tlaxcala. Its murals were discovered in 1975 and are among the best preserved in Mesoamerica.

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Cacaxtla. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cacaxtla
MLA
“Cacaxtla.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cacaxtla. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Cacaxtla.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cacaxtla.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Cacaxtla’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/cacaxtla (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻