n.
Nahuatl-speaking people who held sway over what is now central Mexico from the 10th to the 12th century.
Whether their urban centre was Tula or Teotihuacán is a matter of dispute. In the 10th century they formed a number of small states of various ethnic origins into an empire. They introduced the cult of Quetzalcóatl , and other Toltec religious and military influences spread through the Yucatán region and were absorbed by the Maya . They were noted as builders and craftsmen; artifacts include fine metalwork, gigantic statues, and carved human and animal standard-bearers. They were succeeded by the Aztec . See also Mesoamerican civilization .