El Tajin

      The day began hot and humid. By 8:30 AM it had reached 34° C. The heavily drenched air resembled its rarefied thinner cousin that dwells at extreme altitudes,, and why,, because neither arrives in abundance. Strange bird calls emmanated from the surrounding hills. Wispy finger-like mists formed slowly above the trees and seemed to caress the mountainsides.This is a jungle, this is Tajin, the enigmatic city of niches. A few tourists ambled between the buildings like colorful insects taking selfies. Except for the calls of the birds, an Ozymandian silence prevailed in the sultry air. It must have been noisy back then I thought. The pyramids, planted in the manicured grass are more like sculptures now, mute keepers of secrets. Tajin is the mystery city. Who built this place Totonacs or Huastecos? Each lays claim to the legend. Tajin may be a good example of how history just disappeared into the jungle and the reasons for existence are left up to the discretion of academics. Even the great Tenochitln, conquered mostly by smallpox and a little by Cortez was a functioning city during the conquest, yet there are but very few accounts of its daily life.The only thing I can say for sure about the history of Central America is that in all these ancient cities there was a  football stadium. Perhaps that is what will be said of the USA one day when it disappears,,, my god, my god, these people really liked sports,,, and some latter day archaeologist will add,,, "and the losers were sacrificed". That may not be too far from the truth.
     El Tajin, according to the experts was occupied 100 years before Christ's birth to 1200 AD. That's 1300 years. Other experts say it was occupied from 800 AD to 1200 AD. Big difference. Not an exact science archaeology but I can understand its retraints,, from funding, to finding,, to bias,,, to pride and self promotion,,,, it suffers from "versions" of the truth,,,,,but then again recreating history is like writing fiction,, not completely invented, because all fiction, even science fiction,  is aided by lots of historical care packages. Archaeology is serious fiction created from a plethora of back breaking digs that unearth artifacts large and small. I imagine, though, in so many places where looters came before the academics, some of whom were looters themselves, the historical evidence is more scarce, or out of context. Latin Am,erica has been well looted. Putting the puzzle back together again without all the pieces requires some imagination.