Tamuín
Encyclopedia
Tamuín is a municipio
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...

 (second-level administrative division
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

) in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....

. Tamuín is internationally renowned for three archaeological sites representative of the precolonial Huastec culture.

Toponymy

The name Tamuín has been spelled in many ways over time: Tamui, Tamuche, Tamuchi, Tam-Ohin, Tamo-Oxxi, Tam-Huinic, Tamuyn, Tamohi, Tamnoc. Its meaning is undetermined, and there have been many proposals about it, two of which being “gar
Gar
In American English the name gar is strictly applied to members of the Lepisosteidae, a family including seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine, waters of eastern North America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands.-Etymology:In...

 spot” (gar, a kind of fish) and “mosquito spot”. Another suggestion holds that the original name is Tam-Huinic and that this translates as “place of the book of knowledge”. This meaning is suggestive of the fact that Tamuín was the leading ceremonial center of the entire region of Huasteca
La Huasteca
La Huasteca is the first climbing area in Monterrey, Mexico, only 15 minutes from the city. With nearly 200 bolted routes with grades from 5.8 to 5.13C, it is the favorite place for weekend climbers. It is also known for the slippery type of limestone from which it is comprised, and which makes...

. Yet another suggestion is that Tamuin is a corruption of the Huastec 'tamohi' meaning 'place of Ramon trees'. "An Archaeological Guide to Central and Southern Mexico" by Joyce & Jerry Kelly 2001. This is supported by Huastec origins from the moist south Huastec people where ramon nuts
Brosimum alicastrum
Brosimum alicastrum, the breadnut or Maya nut, is a Brosimum tree species under the Moraceae family of flowering plants, whose other genera include fig and mulberries The plant is known by a range of names in indigenous Mesoamerican and other languages, including but not limited to: ramon,ojoche,...

 are common and a staple food.

Location

The municipality is situated in the eastern part of the State of San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....

 and belongs to the region known as Huasteca
La Huasteca
La Huasteca is the first climbing area in Monterrey, Mexico, only 15 minutes from the city. With nearly 200 bolted routes with grades from 5.8 to 5.13C, it is the favorite place for weekend climbers. It is also known for the slippery type of limestone from which it is comprised, and which makes...

, a region which covers parts of several states. Tamuín is bordered on the north by the state of Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...

, on the south by the villages of San Vicente Tancuayalab and Tanlajás, on the east by the municipio of Ébano
Ebano
Ebano may refer to:*Dalbergia funera, a species of legume found in El Salvador and Guatemala*Ebano, Mexico, a town and municipality in San Luis Potosí, Mexico...

, and on the west by Ciudad Valles
Ciudad Valles
Ciudad Valles is the second-largest city in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. It is located in the eastern part of the state at . The city is also the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city had a 2005 census population of 116,261, while the municipality's...

.

Hydrography

The Tampaón River runs through the middle of Tamuín. It joins the Moctezuma River
Moctezuma River
-References:*Atlas of Mexico, 1975 .*The Prentice Hall American World Atlas, 1984.*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993....

 to form the Pánuco River
Pánuco River
The Pánuco River is a river in Mexico that flows from the River Moctezuma in the Valley of Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico.At its source, it serves as a channel for water-drainage for Mexico City. From there, it becomes the state border between Hidalgo and Querétaro as it moves towards San Luis...

, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

. This region contains the following lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

s: Los Patitos, Tansey, Brasil, San José del Limón, Palmas Cortadas and Mirador.

Climate

The climate is hot for most of the year, turning to between cool and cold between November and February.

History

La Huasteca
La Huasteca
La Huasteca is the first climbing area in Monterrey, Mexico, only 15 minutes from the city. With nearly 200 bolted routes with grades from 5.8 to 5.13C, it is the favorite place for weekend climbers. It is also known for the slippery type of limestone from which it is comprised, and which makes...

 was the territory of the Wastek (Huastec) ethnicity, a branch of the Maya
Maya peoples
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...

 group of ethnicities. La Huasteca is detached from and far to the north of the main Maya region. Today, there are about 150,000 speakers of the Wastek language
Wastek language
The Wastek or Huastec language is a Mayan language of Mexico, spoken by the Huastecs living in rural areas of San Luis Potosí and northern Veracruz. Though relatively isolated from them, it is related to the Mayan languages spoken further south and east in Mexico and Central America...

 distributed between the states of San Luis Potosí and the neighboring state of Veracruz.

Tamuín was the site of the first royal land lease (merced de tierra) in the portion of Huasteca which within the modern day state of San Luis Potosí. In 1555, the Viceroy ordered the alcalde mayor (magistrate) of Pánuco
Pánuco, Veracruz
Pánuco is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz, located in the state's Huasteca Alta region. It serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding Pánuco Municipality...

 not to hinder the fisheries of the Huastec tribe in Tamuín and Tampico
Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...

.

In 1787, the Spanish empire's new system of intendancies was extended into Mexico. The old magistrate district of the Villa de los Valles was abolished and it was incorporated into the vast intendancy of San Luis Potosí, whose borders extended to Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 in the northeast, and Tamuín continued in the administrative status of a simple village (pueblo). In 1793 the Franciscan monk, Fray Cristóbal Herrera Alcorcha described it in his report on the missions as the “Sanctuary of Tamud or Tamuín”.

Under the constitution of the newly independent Mexican Republic
History of Mexico
The history of Mexico, a country located in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th Century.Since the...

, promulgated in 1824, the provinces of the former colony were transformed into "free and sovereign states". The first constitution of the State of San Luis Potosí was enacted by its constituent congress on 16 October 1826, and almost one year later, by decree No. 61 promulgated on 8 October 1827, several municipios of the state were designated, among them Tamuín. Soon thereafter a law regulating municipios (the Ley de Arreglo de Municipios) was enacted, wherein the Villa of Tamuín is mentioned as belonging to the division (partido) of Ciudad Valles
Ciudad Valles
Ciudad Valles is the second-largest city in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. It is located in the eastern part of the state at . The city is also the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city had a 2005 census population of 116,261, while the municipality's...

.

In March 1831, the lieutenant colonel of engineers, Francisco Pocelli, sailed up the Pánuco River
Pánuco River
The Pánuco River is a river in Mexico that flows from the River Moctezuma in the Valley of Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico.At its source, it serves as a channel for water-drainage for Mexico City. From there, it becomes the state border between Hidalgo and Querétaro as it moves towards San Luis...

 from Tampico
Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the state of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, directly north across the border from Veracruz. Tampico is the third largest city in Tamaulipas, and counts with a population of 309,003. The Metropolitan area of...

 in a steamboat and arrived at Tamuín. This event was quite memorable for the region, since it was the first time a steamboat had traversed there.

By a decree of 30 June 1845 issued by the Assembly of the Department of San Luis Potosí, the ayuntamiento (municipio government) of Tamuín was transferred to the district of Valles.

In this period, the village (pueblo) of Tamuín was located further south than presently, at a site whose original name was El Choyal.

In 1892, for the transfer of Tamuín to the place called La Cofradía, the hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...

 of El Limón was taken over. Its 19,000 hectares were distributed among 17 ejido
Ejido
The ejido system is a process whereby the government promotes the use of communal land shared by the people of the community. This use of community land was a common practice during the time of Aztec rule in Mexico...

s, giving each farmer (ejidatario) approximately 20 hectares on average.

In 1955, the Villa of Tamuín was inundated for nearly three weeks due to torrential rains caused by hurricanes Gladys and Hilda. During this crisis, the population was rendered incommunicado by damage to the town's highway. This disaster prompted president Adolfo Ruiz Cortinez to pay a visit to Tamuín.

Economy

Agriculture: The most common crops are corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, sorghum
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

, bean
Bean
Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....

s, sugar cane, papaya
Papaya
The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...

, and some produce
Produce
Produce is a generalized term for a group of farm-produced goods and, not limited to fruits and vegetables . More specifically, the term "produce" often implies that the products are fresh and generally in the same state as where they were harvested. In supermarkets the term is also used to refer...

.

Animal Ranching: principally cattle, but also hogs, horses, sheep, and goats.

Manufacturing: there is a cement plant of Grupo Cemex
Cemex
CEMEX is the world's largest building materials supplier and third largest cement producer. Founded in Mexico in 1906, the company is based in Monterrey, Mexico...

, two 260 MW electric generating stations operated by the AES Corporation
AES Corporation
AES Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that generates and distributes electrical power. The company was founded on January 28, 1981, as Applied Energy Services by Roger Sant from the US Federal Energy Administration and Dennis Bakke from the Office of Management and Budget. AES Corporation is...

, and a meat packing plant.

Fishing: fisheries include gar
Gar
In American English the name gar is strictly applied to members of the Lepisosteidae, a family including seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine, waters of eastern North America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands.-Etymology:In...

, river carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

, mojarra
Mojarra
The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. It has seven genera.Mojarras are a common prey and bait fish in many parts of the Caribbean including the South American Coast and Caribbean islands. These species tend to be difficult to identify in the field and often...

, shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

, and acamaya (local variety of freshwater crayfish).

There is a large, modern airport. Commercial flights are on a limited scale for security reasons.

Archaeological sites

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
Wastek language
The Wastek or Huastec language is a Mayan language of Mexico, spoken by the Huastecs living in rural areas of San Luis Potosí and northern Veracruz. Though relatively isolated from them, it is related to the Mayan languages spoken further south and east in Mexico and Central America...

. 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
Teotihuacán
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...

.

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 y 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
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

 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 Huasteca which 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 Hidalgo are 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
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...

.

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.
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