Some archaeologists, such as Richard Diehl, argue for the existence of a Toltec Horizon that extended to other cultures and polities in Mesoamerica, characterized by certain stylistic traits associated with Tula. Examples of traits include the Mixtec-Puebla style of iconography, Tohil plumbate ceramic ware, and Silho or X-Fine Orange Ware ceramics. Other traits associated with Tula found in Chichén Itzá are also taken as evidence for a Toltec Horizon. The nature of interaction between Tula and Chichén Itzá has been especially controversial. While some scholars argue that there were only loose connections between the two cultures, others postulate that the Toltecs conquered Chichén Itzá through military campaign or that Chichén Itzá established Tula as a colony. The significance of Toltec similarities to the Mixteca-Puebla art style have also been questioned.

A 2003 study by Michael E. Smith and Lisa Montiel offers a contrary viewpoint, as the authors compare the archaeological record related to Tula Hidalgo to those of the polities centered in Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan. Smith and Montiel conclude that relative to the influence that Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan both exerted in Mesoamerica, Tula's influence on other cultures was negligible and that it should thus be defined as a kingdom rather than as an empire. While Tula did have the urban complexity expected of an imperial capital, its influence and dominance was not very far reaching. However, evidence for Tula's participation in extensive trade networks has been uncovered; one example of which are the remains of a large obsidian workshop.

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The Toltec culture ( /ˈtɒltɛk/) was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, reaching prominence from 950 to 1150 CE. ^[1] The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tōllān [ˈtoːlːaːn] ( Nahuatl for Tula) as the epitome of civilization; in the Nahuatl language the word Tōltēcatl [toːlˈteːkat͡ɬ] (singular) or Tōltēcah [toːlˈteːkaʔ] (plural) came to take on the meaning " artisan". The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of a Toltec Empire, giving lists of rulers and their exploits. However, whether the Toltecs should indeed be classified as an "empire" is debated among scholars.

Not much fine detail is known about the origins of the Toltec, however, the culture seems to have developed out of a mixture of the Nonoalca people from the southern Gulf Coast and a group of sedentary Chichimeca from northern Mesoamerica; the former of these likely composed the majority of the new culture and were influenced by the Mayan culture centered in Teotihuacan. ^[2] During Teotihuacan’s apogee in the Early Classic period, these people were tightly integrated into the political and economic systems of the state and formed the multiple large settlements in the Tula region, most notably Villagran and Chingu. ^[3] Beginning around 650 CE, the majority of these settlements were abandoned as a result of Teotihuacan’s decline, and the Coyotlatelco rose as the dominant culture in the region. It is with the Coyotlatelco that Tula, as it relates to the Toltec, was founded along with a number of hilltop communities. ^[4] Tula Chico, as the settlement is referred to during this phase, grew into a small regional state out of the consolidation of a the surrounding Coyotlatelco sites. The settlement was roughly three to six square kilometers in size with a grided urban plan and a relatively a large population. ^[5] The complexity of the main plaza was especially distinct from other Coyotlatelco sites in the area with multiple ball courts and pyramids. Overall, the Toltec culture as it is understood during its peak can be tied directly to Tula Chico; after the site was burned and abandoned at the end of the Epiclassic period, Tula Grande was soon constructed bearing strong similarities 1.5 kilometers to the south. ^[6] It is during the Early Postclassic period that Tula Grande and its associated Toltec culture would become the dominant force in the broader region.

At its height, Tula Grande had an estimated population of as many as 60,000 and covered 16 square kilometers of hills, plains, valleys, and marsh. ^[7] Some of the most prominent examples of the Toltec material culture at the site include pyramids, ball-courts, and the Atalantean warrior sculptures on top of Pyramid B. ^[8] Various civic buildings surrounding a central plaza are especially distinctive, as excavations show the use of columns inside these buildings and in surrounding colonnades. One of these buildings, known as Building 3, is argued to have been a symbolically powerful building for the Toltec due to its reference in architecture to the historic and mythic homes of the people’s ancestors. ^[9] The physical layout of the broader plaza also partakes in referencing a shared past; its sunken colonnaded hall units are incredibly similar to those at cities of Tula’s ancestral peoples. Importantly, these halls are known to have served as places to engage with both regional and long-distance trade networks and were possibly also used for diplomatic relations, suggesting that Tula Grande used these structures for a similar end. To that point, imported goods at Tula Grande shows that the Toltecs indeed interacted commercially with sites throughout Mesoamerica; shared ceramic and ritual figurine styles between Tula and regions such as Socunusco supplement this idea. ^{[10] [11]} Additionally, surveys of Tula Grande have suggested the existence of an “extensive and highly specialized workshop-based obsidian industry,” at the site that could have been one of the sources of the city’s economic and political power, taking on Teotihuacan’s previous role as the region’s distributer. ^[12] A survey done by Healan et. al recovered roughly 16,000 pieces of obsidian from the site’s urban zone and over 25,000 from its surrounding residential areas. Tula’s involvement in obsidian trade is also evidence for the city’s interaction with another powerful city in the region, Chichén Itzá, as the vast majority of obsidian at both sites comes from the same two geological sources.

Modern scholars debate whether the Aztec narratives of Toltec history should be given credence as descriptions of actual historical events. While all scholars acknowledge that there is a large mythological part of the narrative, some maintain that by using a critical comparative method some level of historicity can be salvaged from the sources. Others maintain that continued analysis of the narratives as sources of actual history is futile and hinders access to actual knowledge of the culture of Tula de Allende.

Other controversies relating to the Toltecs include the question of how best to understand the reasons behind the perceived similarities in architecture and iconography between the archaeological site of Tula and the Maya site of Chichén Itzá. Researchers are yet to reach a consensus in regards to the degree or direction of influence between these two sites.