The name of Cuyuxquihui is a composed word from the Totonac language: cuyu, armadillo and quihui, wood and it points to the similarity of the local fauna to the shell of that animal.

This settlement would seem to have been a fortress, due to some architectonic characteristics; the existence of retaining walls that run throughout the esplanade north to south has been confirmed; its height makes it relatively inaccessible from the west, as well as by the cliff that borders it to the east.

[1] Material remains on the various regional settlements, leads to believe that a good part of them were El Tajín contemporaries and that some developed after its gradual abandonment.

[1] Cuyuxquihui was conquered by the Aztecs, Moctezuma Ilhuicamina[2] (1398 – 1469) towards 1465, probably one of the most important reasons of the cultural mix of the totonac elements, mexicas and huastecos.

[1] At the top of this structure, a two-meter-high (6.6 ft) monolith was found; it has evidence of having been re-modeled in three occasions; the last one, with Aztec influence occurred in 1400 CE.