Tatahuitalpan

Tatahuitalpan lay in the lowlands of the Usumacinta valley, where the great river and its backwaters cross the flat country of eastern Tabasco. Chontal Maya and Itza-speaking communities farmed maize, cacao and cotton on the riverbanks and traded along the waterways that linked the Gulf coast with the interior. In 1525 Hernán Cortés crossed this country on his march toward Honduras, and his companions recorded a settlement they found deserted and burned as its people had fled the Spanish advance. The region's rivers, wetlands and forest made travel slow, and the Spanish columns depended on local guides to find the river crossings.