 Abundant food resources and other natural conditions were a determining factor in the formation and sustenance of the area's dense population.By the time of the second stage, the Tarascan group took control of a vast territory, settling in the Pátzcuaro watershed and setting up a tributary system based on their overwhelming military strength.Together with Tzintzuntzan and Pátzcuaro, Ihuatzio figured among the most important Tarascan settlements.