In March 1519, Hernan Cortes was informed by the chiefs of Potonchán (Tabasco) of the existence of Culúa and Mexico. The conquistador soon found out that Culúa was the name of a particular group of chiefs who exerted joint political and economic power over a vast, newly conquered, territory whose leader was the hueytlatoani of Mexico Tenochtitlan. This study contributes to the knowledge about who these Culúa chiefs were, how they ascended to and maintained power, and how in less than a century they transformed a small Mexico Tenochtitlan into the most powerful political formation of prehispanic Mesoamerica. In Spanish.

Published by Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (Mexico, D.F.), 2007. 432 pp. ISBN: 978-968-03-0212-3.

$26.00 (shipping included). Order code IN298.