Chicōmōztōc ([t͡ʃikoːˈmoːs̻toːk]) is the name for themythical origin place of theAztec Mexicas,Tepanecs,Acolhuas, and otherNahuatl-speaking peoples (orNahuas) ofMesoamerica, in thePostclassic period.
The term Chicomoztoc derives fromNahuatlchicome (“seven”),oztotl (“cave”), and -c (“place”). In symbolic terms these caves within a hill have been compared to the wombs from which the various peoples were born; another possible association is with the seven orifices of the human body. In either case, this term is associated with the origin, birth, or beginning of a group of people, both mythic and historical.[1]
There is an association of Chicomoztoc with certain legendary traditions concerningCulhuacan (Colhuacan), an actualpre-Columbian settlement in theValley of Mexico which was considered to have been one of the earliest and most pre-eminent settlements in the valley. Culhuacan ("place of those with ancestors" is its literal meaning inClassical Nahuatl) was viewed as a prestigious and revered place by the Aztec/Mexica (who also styled themselves 'Culhua-Mexica'). InAztec codical writing, the symbol or glyph representing the toponym of Culhuacan took the form of a 'bent' or 'curved' hill (a play on the homonymcol- in Nahuatl, meaning "bent, twisted", e.g. as if by old age).
Some researchers have attempted to identify Chicomoztoc with a specific geographic location, likely between 60 and 180 miles northeast of theValley of Mexico including perhaps a height near the present-day town of San Isidro Culhuacan.[2] The purported existence of actual caves plays a role in New AgeMayanism.
In the State of Guanajuato the highest mountain is "El Cerro de Culiacán" and is surrounded by all the signs that correspond to the measure and chronicles of the legendary Chicomoztoc.[citation needed]
InClive Cussler's novelLost Empire, Chicomoztoc is discovered to be an island inSouth Sulawesi, Indonesia,[3] from where the ancestors of the Aztec were exiled sometime in the 6th century.[4]
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