The mural paintings of Cacaxtla were discovered by chance in 1975. They arouse excitement in the Mesoamericanist community for their original style, at the crossroads of traditions from the Central Highlands, the Maya area and the Gulf Coast. Vibrant polychrome references also echo the sculpted panels of the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent at Xochicalco (Morelos), known since the late 18th century. These hybrid visual assemblages constitute the starting point for a discussion of cultural interactions and the fabrication of prestige. After the disintegration of the Teotihuacan system around 550 AD, how did the city-states of the Central Highlands transform their material culture to construct new political discourses to establish their new local authority? Thanks to the joint contribution of anthropology, art anthropology and archaeology, the purpose of this book is to explore holistically the way in which these Mesoamerican societies thought and created their otherness and expressed it in their visual and material universe.
