Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Mixtec or Ñuu Savi are an indigenous group of southern Mexico that created a Mesoamerican civilization, with large networks of city-states and kingdoms lasting nearly two millennia.
➤Support this channel with my Patreon!: patreon.com/emperortigerstar
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1. Several sources have had contradictions due to limited or lack of information. I had to make a few educated guesses for this video because of this.
2. Most kingdoms were networks of city-states rather than bordered entities, hence why limits aren't bordered.
3. Some of these cities are ran by Mixtec leaders but are demographically mixed. Sometimes a non-Mixtec dynasty takes over a Mixtec city. As a result, the "limits" of Mixtec civilization are meant to be a general reference and not as definitive.
4. Some rebellions or military events occur but end in the same year, which means they won't show up.
5. Even zoomed into Oaxaca, it is impossible to show every settlement without the map being unreadable. In addition, some sites (like Huachino) are still unknown in their true location. So not everything can be shown.
Music used:
"The Sky of Our Ancestors" and "Firesong" by Kevin MacLeod
found at incompetech.com
Sources:
- Berdan, Frances F., Richard E. Blanton, Elizabeth Hill Boone, Mary G. Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger. Aztec Imperial Strategies. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1996.
- Joyce, Arthur A., Andrew G. Workinger, Byron Hamann, Peter Kroefges, Maxine Oland, and Stacie M. King. “Lord 8 Deer ‘Jaguar Claw’ and the Land of the Sky: The Archaeology and History of Tututepec.” Latin American Antiquity 15, no. 3 (2004): 273–97. doi.org/10.2307/4141575.
- King, Stacie M. “Thread Production in Early Postclassic Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico: Technology, Intensity, and Gender.” Ancient Mesoamerica 22, no. 2 (2011): 323–43. doi.org/10.1017/s0956536111000253.
- König, Viola. “Mary E. Smith’s Interpretation of the Codex Tulane, the Codex López Ruíz, and Other Documents: Some Conclusions on the Role of Tlaxiaco in the Western Part of the Mixteca Alta.” Mexicon 27, no. 6 (2005): 112–15. jstor.org/stable/23759830.
- Kowalewski, Stephen A., ed. Origins of the Ñuu archaeology in the Mixteca Alta, Mexico. Boulder, Colo: University Press of Colorado, 2009.
- Lind, Michael. Postclassic and Early Colonial Mixtec Houses in the Nochixtlan Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. United States: Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology, 1979.
- Lind, Michael. “Mixtec Kingdoms in the Nochixtlán Valley: A Preconquest to Postconquest Archeological Perspective.” The University of Arizona., 1977.
- Moser, Chris L. “Matching Polychrome Sets from Acatlán, Puebla.” American Antiquity 34, no. 4 (1969): 480–83. doi.org/10.2307/277749.
- Ramón Celis, Pedro Guillermo. “Airborne Lidar at Guiengola, Oaxaca: Mapping a Late Postclassic Zapotec City.” Ancient Mesoamerica 35, no. 3 (2024): 899–916. doi.org/10.1017/S0956536124000166.
- Smith, Mary Elizabeth., López Ruiz, Mariano. The Codex López Ruiz: A Lost Mixtec Pictorial Manuscript. United States: Vanderbilt University, 1998.
- Spores, Prof. Ronald., Balkansky, Andrew K.. The Mixtecs of Oaxaca: Ancient Times to the Present. N.p.: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013.
- Spores, Ronald. “TUTUTEPEC: A Postclassic-Period Mixtec Conquest State.” Ancient Mesoamerica 4, no. 1 (1993): 167–74. jstor.org/stable/26307331.
The Mixtec or Ñuu Savi are an indigenous group of southern Mexico that created a Mesoamerican civilization, with large networks of city-states and kingdoms lasting nearly two millennia.
➤Support this channel with my Patreon!: patreon.com/emperortigerstar
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1. Several sources have had contradictions due to limited or lack of information. I had to make a few educated guesses for this video because of this.
2. Most kingdoms were networks of city-states rather than bordered entities, hence why limits aren't bordered.
3. Some of these cities are ran by Mixtec leaders but are demographically mixed. Sometimes a non-Mixtec dynasty takes over a Mixtec city. As a result, the "limits" of Mixtec civilization are meant to be a general reference and not as definitive.
4. Some rebellions or military events occur but end in the same year, which means they won't show up.
5. Even zoomed into Oaxaca, it is impossible to show every settlement without the map being unreadable. In addition, some sites (like Huachino) are still unknown in their true location. So not everything can be shown.
Music used:
"The Sky of Our Ancestors" and "Firesong" by Kevin MacLeod
found at incompetech.com
Sources:
- Berdan, Frances F., Richard E. Blanton, Elizabeth Hill Boone, Mary G. Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger. Aztec Imperial Strategies. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 1996.
- Joyce, Arthur A., Andrew G. Workinger, Byron Hamann, Peter Kroefges, Maxine Oland, and Stacie M. King. “Lord 8 Deer ‘Jaguar Claw’ and the Land of the Sky: The Archaeology and History of Tututepec.” Latin American Antiquity 15, no. 3 (2004): 273–97. doi.org/10.2307/4141575.
- King, Stacie M. “Thread Production in Early Postclassic Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico: Technology, Intensity, and Gender.” Ancient Mesoamerica 22, no. 2 (2011): 323–43. doi.org/10.1017/s0956536111000253.
- König, Viola. “Mary E. Smith’s Interpretation of the Codex Tulane, the Codex López Ruíz, and Other Documents: Some Conclusions on the Role of Tlaxiaco in the Western Part of the Mixteca Alta.” Mexicon 27, no. 6 (2005): 112–15. jstor.org/stable/23759830.
- Kowalewski, Stephen A., ed. Origins of the Ñuu archaeology in the Mixteca Alta, Mexico. Boulder, Colo: University Press of Colorado, 2009.
- Lind, Michael. Postclassic and Early Colonial Mixtec Houses in the Nochixtlan Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. United States: Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology, 1979.
- Lind, Michael. “Mixtec Kingdoms in the Nochixtlán Valley: A Preconquest to Postconquest Archeological Perspective.” The University of Arizona., 1977.
- Moser, Chris L. “Matching Polychrome Sets from Acatlán, Puebla.” American Antiquity 34, no. 4 (1969): 480–83. doi.org/10.2307/277749.
- Ramón Celis, Pedro Guillermo. “Airborne Lidar at Guiengola, Oaxaca: Mapping a Late Postclassic Zapotec City.” Ancient Mesoamerica 35, no. 3 (2024): 899–916. doi.org/10.1017/S0956536124000166.
- Smith, Mary Elizabeth., López Ruiz, Mariano. The Codex López Ruiz: A Lost Mixtec Pictorial Manuscript. United States: Vanderbilt University, 1998.
- Spores, Prof. Ronald., Balkansky, Andrew K.. The Mixtecs of Oaxaca: Ancient Times to the Present. N.p.: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013.
- Spores, Ronald. “TUTUTEPEC: A Postclassic-Period Mixtec Conquest State.” Ancient Mesoamerica 4, no. 1 (1993): 167–74. jstor.org/stable/26307331.
