Sign from Oaxaca, years ago.
Below is table of some numbers I’ve been contemplating late this afternoon, estimated populations for some cities, with populations above 10,000 people, across Mesoamerica at the time the Spanish arrived in their grand quest for wealth and souls.
The obvious conclusion is that they encompass a wide variety of population densities—probably because the community is spread across rugged ground or substantial areas between the houses are allocated to gardens, although there may be other reasons. But what else?
| name | region | area (ha) | population | density |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenochtitlan* | Central Mexico | 1350 | 212,500 | 157.41 |
| Tzintzuntzan | West Mexico | 674 | 30,000 | 44.51 |
| Texcoco | Central Mexico | 450 | 24,100 | 53.56 |
| Mayapan | Yucatán | 420 | 21,000 | 50.00 |
| Zacapu | West Mexico | 1100 | 20,000 | 18.18 |
| Huexotla | Central Mexico | 300 | 17,100 | 57.00 |
| Yautepec | Central Mexico | 209 | 15,100 | 72.25 |
| San Juan Teotihuacan | Central Mexico | 250 | 13,500 | 54.00 |
| Chalco | Central Mexico | 250 | 11,000 | 44.00 |
| Otumba | Central Mexico | 220 | 10,700 | 48.64 |
| Naco | Southeast Mesoamerica | 160 | 10,000 | 62.50 |
*Where the center of Mexico City is now (the Zócalo).