Tour Tula: The Atlanteans

From atlantislinks.com

Although the Toltec city of Tula has many notable and fascinating features (some of which we’ll visit on this tour), the city’s watermark is undoubtedly the colossal Atlanteans that maintain their silent vigil atop the platform of Pyramid B.  These four rigid telamons with their severe, chiseled forms and hauntingly stern expressions, command the eye’s focus against a lofty backdrop of Mexican clouds.

At least, that’s how we see them today. 

Originally, the Atlanteans served as support columns for the roof of a wood and adobe temple that once crowned Pyramid B.  However, when they were discovered centuries later by archaeologists, the Atlanteans lay in segments at the base of the pyramid where they had been toppled when Tula was destroyed. 

It is believed that the Atlanteans represent Tula's cultural shift to an increasingly militaristic society.  At first glance, these fierce-looking figures with butterfly breastplates across their chests and large feathered headdresses do have a warrior-like appearance.  They even appear to be holding dart-throwers at their sides.  All tell-tale accessories of a warrior, right?

Not everyone sees them this way.  Another interpretation claims that the Atlanteans are nothing more than ballplayers, adorned to play in one of the two large ballcourts located in Tula's archaeological zone.  Some suggest they are statues carved in the likeness of Tula's founder, Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, while others somehow link Tula to the lost city of Atlantis, hence giving the Atlanteans their name.

The tools held at the statues' sides have especially offered color to the debate.  While the more practical interpretation identifies them as mining tools,  others take an out-of-this-world approach, arguing that the Atlanteans represent extraterrestrial visitors armed with ray-guns. 

Whatever or whoever the Atlanteans are, one thing is clear - these stone sentinals continue to inflict wonder upon those who see them.  And maybe that was the intent to begin with.