Acolman

Acolman de Nezahualcóyotl is a town and municipality located in the northern part of State of Mexico, part of the Greater Mexico City area, just north of the city proper. According to myth, the first man was placed here after being taken out of Lake Texcoco. In the community of Tepexpan, the fossilized bones more than 12,000 years old of a man were found in the 20th century. The settlement was founded in the eighth century and was an important commerce center at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Acolman became the site of an important Augustinian monastery in the 16th century that still contains important art and architecture from that time period.

According to an ancient myth, when the gods created the first man, they took him from the waters of Lake Texcoco and placed him alone in Acolman. The arm of this man, ringed by drops of water from the lake is the Aztec glyph for the site. The glyph can also be seen on the monastery which dominates the landscape here. Acolman is derived from a Nahuatl phrase which has been interpreted in various ways. It may mean "man with hand or arm" or "where man is made." Acolman is the modern name but the settlement has been referred to as Oculma, Axuruman and Aculma in colonial era documents.

The municipality is home of the Tepexpan man, named after the community in which he was found. The Tepexpan man is a Subboreal Holocene human fossilized skeleton that was found in the mid-20th century.

The founding of the settlement of Acolman is attributed to the Acolhuas, a Chichimeca people, around the eighth century. The settlement started out independent but was first conquered by the Huexotzincas and remained subject to one dominion or another since. By the time of the tlatoani Nezahualcoyotl, Acolman was an important town in the Tetzcoco altepetl after it was conquered by the Aztecs in 1396. The town was important because it was the only place in Mesoamerica that specialized in the breeding and raising of dogs (today known as the breed called xoloitzcuintli).

At the time of the Spanish conquest, Acolman was governed by Moctezuma II. After, Acolman became the encomienda of Pedro de Solis de los Monteros and his son Francisco. The Franciscans arrived first, but the Augustinians were in charge of evangelization efforts after 1539, with twenty-four friars in residence by 1580. This order built one of the most important early colonial era monasteries in New Spain here.

The 17th and 18th century was marked by severe floodings issues, which caused widespread damage and population shifts. These floods eventually caused the disappearance of towns near Acolman such as Tlacuilocan, Tzapotla, and Tescazonco. During one of the attempts to control the rivers in the area, a dam was constructed which cause havoc for the area. During one of the floods, the monastery was submerged in over six feet of water, covering the church floor with silt and nearly destroying the cloisters. In the 17th and 18th centuries, epidemics such as smallpox decimated the native population.

After the Mexican War of Independence, Acolman became the seat of the municipality of the same name. In 1876, due to political instability, the seat was temporarily moved to a town called Xometla. In 1877, it returned to Acolman and the appendage "de Nezahualcoyotl" as added.