Coatlicamac

Coatlicamac lay in the rugged hills between the Oaxaca highlands and the Veracruz lowlands, in the broad Tuxtepec country where mountains drop toward the Papaloapan basin. Zoque communities lived in the hills, growing maize and cultivating forest products such as medicinal herbs and resins. Chronicles of the Spanish conquest describe a ruler called Coatlicamat whose people lived in these mountains beyond Mexica control, fighting with long spears. Their territory lay on the routes between the Gulf coast and the highlands, and the Mexica and later Spanish agents came to the area to secure tribute and passage.