Discovered in the late eightennth century, the site derives its name from a modern Totonac belief that 12 old lords of the thunderstorm, known collectively as "Tajín," live among its ruins. According to indigenous maps drawn at the time of the conquest, however, the site was once known as Mictlan, the "abode of the dead".

This site has not been plagued with the tourists as much as Palenque, Chichen Itza, or Tulum. It is still a place where you can feel like you are the only person there. But, we think that will soon change. It already has the crowd of vendors at the front entrance, but they are not as agressive as at Palenque.

We used Andrew Coe's, Archaeological Mexico as a guide book to explore this ruins. We followed his directions as we walked through the site and found that without his help we would have not understood what we were seeing. We strongly recommend that if you go to any of the archaeological sites in Mexico, you should make this book required reading. Then take the book with you as you explore the ruins.

The museum, and restrooms are clean. We were here on January 20, 2004 at about 10:00AM. We needed about four hours to see most of the site. We actually were rather rushed and we would recommend that you plan to spend a full day on the site if possible. If you wish to really explore the site and take lots of pictures we recommend two days. Now that we look back at the tour, we wish that we had done so. We pretty much had the site to ourselves until about noon so we recommend getting there as soon as they open. We carried our own water and light snacks with us because it is a long walk to get back to the entrance where you can purchase food and drink. Also, be sure to use the restroom before going out on the site. It's a long walk back to the restroom area once you are on site.

When we got back to the front entrance after our tour we were entertained by the Totonac dancers performing the Dance of the Voladores (Flying Men). Hanging by their feet from a rope, they spin down from the top of a pole and alight just before crashing into the ground. One man dances on top of the pole which is about a hundred feet in the air. He plays a pipe as he dances. It is beautiful to watch. These men perform to earn a living for their families. We recommend that you pay them if you watch. They collect money before the show.

There are large gaps in El Tajin's chronology. Therefore, archaeologists still have a lot to learn about El Tajin. Archaeologists believe El Tajin became a regional power sometime about 100 A.D. There is not yet any evidence for a large earlier occupation. The region's Preclassic inhabitants were more closely related to the Huastecs of northern Veracruz than to the current Totonacs who were probably Postclassic arrivals.

El Tajin's earliest center was around the Arroyo Group at the southern end of the site (near the entrance). Then from about 300 to 600 A.D. the construction crept north up into the valley and then up onto the ridges to the west. The foundations for the "Pyramid of the Niches" and the "Tajin Chico" area were built at this time. These early building complexes were well planned. As the city became more crowded, later buildings were built wherever there was room among the other structures.

Although there is not any evidence for a large early occupation, archaeologists believe El Tajin became a regional power in about 100 A.D. The region's Preclassic inhabitants were more closely related to the Huastecs of northern Veracruz than to the Totonacs who came to the area during the Postclassic Era. El Tajin reached its apex of power between 900 A.D. to 1100 A.D.

During the 10th century, its ruler was 13 Rabbit, who we see on a series of reliefs carved on the columns found in the "Building of the Columns".

There are 17 ballcourts at the site. Some of the ballcourts may have been for practice, but the South and North Ballcourts were devoted to rituals.

Early Postclassic El Tajin covered about 500 hectares and its population was about 30,000.

Its empire extended along the Veracruz coast. Then by about 1150 A.D.their culture had collapsed and the city was almost abandoned. Archaeologists believe that El Tajin and the surrounding agricultural region could not support the large population.

Then during the Late Postclassic Era of about 1200 A.D. to 1520 A.D., a new people moved into the area of El Tajin. These people were the Totonacs.