Tetellan

Tetellan lay in the southern Mexican interior of the Balsas basin, where valleys and hills rise from the warm river lands toward the central highlands. The changing elevation supported different crops, and villages traded maize, chilli and cotton across the slopes. Cuitlatec and Nahua speakers lived in the region, and their settlements paid tribute to Tepecoacuilco, whose lords controlled the valleys. Trails connected the hills with the riverside markets, carrying salt, cloth and feathers between the highlands and the Pacific lowlands.