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TEOTIHUACÁN
Revised Fall 2012
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INTRODUCTION
Consecutively occupied by the Teotihuacans, Toltecs
and Aztecs in ancient times, and later by missionaries,
encomenderos, and hacienda owners. After the
Mexican Revolution in 1921, the national government
parceled off its lands and gave them to the
townspeople.
Background
• 1300-300 BC. Ceremonial centers in the valley of
Mexico, Oaxaca, and the Maya region parallel to the
great Olmec sites of La Venta and San Lorenzo.
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Tlatilco
• 1300-300 BC
Major ceremonial center
in the valley of Mexico.
Bicephalous woman and nude woman
Tlatilco, 1100-500 BC
Tlatilco
The "Acrobat" c. 1300 - 800 BC
“The duality mask”
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Cuicuilco
• Occupied 900 BC to AD 100
• 2,000 to 5,000 people
Late millennium BC. Cuicuilco seemingly in competition with
neighboring community of Teotihuacan, c. 35 miles NE.
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50 BC. Volcanic eruption lead to long term decline, and possibly allowed
rival, Teotihuacan, to rise in power
The first pyramid in Mexico was built at Cuicuilco (occupied 900 BC to AD 100)
Round base. Stone core and brick exterior.
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Teotihuacan
GEOGRAPHY
• Three rivers used to flow through the basin: The San Juan, San
Lorenzo and the Hixolco Rivers
• Forests of Mexican cypress (ahuehuete) and oaks; grasslands
irrigated for agriculture.
• Spanish changed the ecology.
• Close proximity to the Otumba and Pachuca obsidian
deposits, freshwater springs of Lake Texcoco and springs of
Puxtla at San Juan, and availability of building materials.
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DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
• Incipient (Tezoyuca) or Pre-Teotihuacan Stage – 800 150BC
• Patlachique or Proto-Teotihuacan Stage 150-0 BC
• Tzacualli or Teotihuacan I Stage – 1 – 150 AD
• Miccaotli or Teotihuacan II (150-200 AD)
• Tlamimilolpa or Teotihuacan II – 200-450 AD
• Xolalpan or Teotihuacan III – 450 – 650 AD
• Metepec or Teotihuacan IV – 650 – 750 AD
• Teotihuacan V – After 750 AD. Smaller sites such as
Oxtotipac and Xometla.
INCIPIENT – TEZOYUCA – PRETEOTIHUACAN STAGE
• 800 to 150 BC
• Settlement by sedentary agriculturalists.
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PATLACHIQUE OR PROTO-TEOTIHUACAN
STAGE
• 150 BC – 1 AD
• Rise in population to 5000 people – communal
concentration
• Ceremonial worship
• Figurines are similar to small idols from the
former Lake of Texcoco and Chupicuaro
• Beginning of the construction of the sun and
moon pyramids
PATLACHIQUE FIGURINES
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View of the Avenue of the Dead (center) and Pyramid of the Sun (left)
from the Temple of the Moon, Teotihuacán. Photo by Nick Leonard.
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Tzacualli (Early) or Teotihuacan I Stage
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1-150 AD
Construction of pyramids continued
Groups occupied all the Teotihuacan area
Population of almost 30,000
Beginning of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl or Feathered
Serpent
• Intensive farming near the springs
• Tzacualli figurines represent individuals with
projective jaws and slanting eyes
TZACUALLI FIGURINES
TZACUALLI
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Climax, 150-400 AD
• At its height (AD 150-400).
• Population: 100,000 to 150,000 people living
in the city.
• Sprawling apartment compounds. One of the
largest cities in the world. Surrounded by
smaller but very important centers in the
valley of the Mexico such as Tlatilco,
Xochicalco, Cholula, and Tlaxcala.
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Climax, 150-400 AD
(continued)
• Significant depopulation in the immediate
vicinity. Close control of the population. Inner
zone, immediately controlled on a day to day
basis. 40 miles around the city. Hyper
urbanism similar to early Mesopotamia.
• No serious military rivals in the vicinity.
Masses of common people directly under the
control of the elites.
• Centralized control.
[Lack of] writing?
• Lack of writing at Teotihuacan. Writing was
well known in contemporary Maya elites.
• Widespread use of standardized abstract
symbols.
• Maya descriptions are one of the main sources
for Teotihuacan and their elites.
A modest nobility?
• No palaces. No royal tombs. No such found at
Teotihuacan.
• In sharp contrast to the Maya, Teotihuacan’s
elite did not advertise themselves in
iconography, artwork, display.
• BUT… a powerful central governing structure
necessary for such urban planning to exist.
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MICCAOTLI OR TEOTIHUACAN II –
150-200 AD
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City covered 22 square kms
Population of 45,000
Three pyramids were finished
Geometric plan established as city plan
Other buildings added to the Sun and Moon
Pyramids
MICCAOTLI CERAMICS
TLAMIMILOLPA OR TEOTIHUACAN II
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200 – 450 AD
Population rose to 100,000 distributed in districts
Works of infrastructure
Structures of four levels were built giving the city’s unique
architectural flavor – multi family compounds
Immigrant areas around the cities (Zapotecs, Maya-Huastecs,
and Nahuas)
Consolidation of the city as the Governing State with
hegemony over the economic, political, and religious system
Sectors of the city organized as political units governed by the
state
3RD Century AD: First episode of destruction at Teotihuacan,
interpreted as internal struggle.
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TLAMIMILOLPA ART
• TEOTIHUACAN. Phase Tlamimilolpa and Phase Xolalpan.
INCISED TRIPOD BROWNWARE VESSEL. Sothebys Institute of
Art. New York.
TLAMIMILOLPA ART
TEOTIHUACAN. Phase Tlamimilolpa and Phase Xolalpan.
Stone funerary masque
The stone idol of Coatlinchan
168 tons
4TH to 6TH Centruies AD
Unearthed in Huexotla, state of Mexico, 1940.
Transported to Mexico City, 1964.
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ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
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Lapidary work
Ceramic manufacture
Obsidian biface production
Prismatic blade extraction
Figurine production
Textile manufacture
Basket making
Hide and fiber work
Mural painting
Stucco polishing
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
• Production of maize, amaranth, beans, squash, hot
peppers, tomatoes, cacti, Mexican hawthorn and
cherries
• Tobacco, avocado, cotton, medicinal plants, wild
reeds, pine, oak, juniper, reeds and bulrushes.
• Animal protein from rabbits, dogs, deer and turkey,
and fresh water fish
• Making of pottery and prismatic jade
Chalchiuhtlicue (She of the skirt of Jade Beads)
Image from the Codex Borbonicus.
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Teotihuacan Empire?
• Maya writings reveal a more militaristic stance from
Teotihuacan toward Maya centers such as Tikal. Even
some evidence that Teotihuacan was able to
engineer the disposal and death of a Tikal ruler and
its replacement by a dynasty with origins at
Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan able to project their
influence into the Maya lowlands to the extent that
they could depose an indigenous ruler and replace it
with one of their own.
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XOLALPAN OR TEOTIHUACAN III
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450 TO 600 AD
Height of its cultural splendor
Population rose to 150,000 to 200,000
Class stratification
Warriors protected merchants
Political practices expressed in mural paintings
APARTMENT COMPLEXES
• After AD 200. Construction of large, single story apartment
buildings. Quite unique to Teotihuacan, they don’t appear at
other Mesoamerican sites They had interior courtyards, often
with temples inside. Contained over 100 small and fairly dark
rooms. Over 2,000 of these apartment complexes identified at
Teotihuacan.
• Neighborhoods across the city seem to have contained mixes of
wealthier and poorer people.
• Apartments closer to the ceremonial center tend to be larger and
more elaborate, more luxurious, and with walls painted with
murals.
• Continuum in household size and elaboration. No structures that
can be identified as palaces.
APARTMENT COMPLEXES
(continued)
• Housed workshops for craftspeople.
• May have been occupied by lineages of related kingsmen or
groups of people employed in the same crafts: pottery
production, stoneworking, etc. TEOTIHUACAN, A KIND OF
COMMERCIAL EMPIRE with its culture spreading mostly by
merchants.
• Strong evidence of a Teotihuacan trading settlement within the
southern Maya community of Kaminaljuyu, in today’s
Guatemala. Strong trade also with Copan (Honduras) and
Matacapan (gulf of Mexico).
• Oaxacan, Maya, and western Mexican enclaves within the city of
Teotihuacan.
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TEOTIHUACAN MURALS
This section of a mural found at the Tepantitla apartment compound shows two elaborately
dressed priests facing Chalchiuhtlicue, the Teotihuacan Water Deity, who in turn is seated in
front of one incredible flowering tree.
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TEOTIHUACAN MURALS
Fragment depicting two feathered coyotes with heraldic
emblems
TEOTIHUACAN MURALS
Fragment depicting priest in plumed jaguar headdress
TEOTIHUACAN MURALS
Ballplayers
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METEPEC OR TEOTIHUACAN IV
• 650 – 750 BC
• Overpopulation – problems with lack of space
• Immigrants move to the area to protect
themselves from drought
• Problems with lack of cultivated land
• Problems with colonized population
settlements
• Destruction in the 7th century AD seems to be
limited to the central ceremonial area
TEOTIHUACAN V
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600-700 CE. Chichimec invasions.
Massive collapse after 750 AD.
Looting of temples, tombs.
Surviving population spreads into the
surrounding countryside
• Growth of smaller sites of Teotihuacan culture
such as Oxtotipac and Xometla.
Incense Burner Lid. Teotihuacan V, ca. 800-1100 A.D.,
Azcapotzalco, Valley of Mexico.
The Denver Art Museum,1979
.
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OXTOTICPAC
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750 – 800 AD
Warfare
Outside attacks
Internal groups
flee and abandon
the city
XOMETLA
• 800 – 950 AD
• Some Teotihuacans
remain in the area
• Some Teotihuacan
colonized settlements
show population
growth
THE CITADEL
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Pyramid of the Sun
Pyramid of the Moon
Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl
Avenue of the Dead
Smaller temples
Palace of the Jaguars
Underground caves
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Planning of the City
• Grid pattern.
• Ceremonial center of Teotihuacan carefully
placed 15.5 degrees east of astronomical
north. This orientation is found repeatedly in
many other ceremonial centers in
Mesoamerica: the Maya, the Aztec.
Manifestation of religion, of humans’ position
in the universe.
• Ceremonial center carefully planned as a ritual
and ideological unity.
The Ceremonial Center
The Ceremonial Center
• Carefully planned as a ritual and ideological unity.
• Most structures in the Avenue of the Dead built
before AD 250.
• Ceremonial center of Teotihuacan carefully placed
15.5 degrees east of astronomical north. This
orientation is found repeatedly in many other
ceremonial centers in Mesoamerica: the Maya, the
Aztec. Manifestation of religion, of humans’ position
in the universe.
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The Ceremonial Center
(continued)
• Other temples and platforms that probably originally
had temples on top
• Architecture along the Avenue of the Dead built in
units according to calendars that are widely shared
amongst Mesoamerican civilizations. These include
• A sacred year of 260 days
• A different yearly cycle of about 365 days
• Astronomical orientation of the site as a whole
Characteristics of the Ceremonial
Center
• Rich tombs with evidence for human sacrifice under a
number of the pyramids.
• Almost 200 victims found under the pyramid of the Feathered
Serpent. Many of the victims are young men, others young
women.
• Those under the pyramid of the Feathered Serpent were
probably guards and servants from an elite household.
• Human and animal sacrifices under the Pyramid of the Moon,
along with artifacts suggesting contact with the Maya
lowlands.
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COMPARISON OF THE PYRAMIDS
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PYRAMID OF THE SUN
PYRAMID OF THE SUN
• It was constructed at the beginning of the Christian
Era
• Built over an enlarged natural cave with its walls
plastered with mud and roofed of basalt, which was
probably an entrance to the underworld.
• It was named as such by the Mexicas who observed
that between the spring equinox and appearance of
Pleiades, the sun passes along the central staircase
announcing the appearance of the first rains.
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THE PYRAMID OF THE SUN
• The temple at the top is ruined. But according to chronista
Medieta in 1557, an 18 feet stone idol stood on top of it, but
was destroyed by order of the Archbishop Zumarraga
• The core is covered by volcanic slug, called tezontle
• In the seventies, a cave was discovered underneath the center
of the staircase leading to 4 passages. This is called the fourpetalled rose
• The oldest artifacts belong to the Tzacualli Stage (0 – 100 AD).
• At this center, at a previous time, an altar was built. It is
believed that this ceremonial space is what brought people
together.
• Talud-Tablero Style
PYRAMID OF THE MOON
• Second largest building
• Stands north of the city
• The design imitates Cerro Gordo which in Nahuatl is called
Tenan which means mother or protector of stones or where
there are deafening groans
• Built during the Miccaotli and Tzacualli Phases (0-200 AD)
• Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of water, was found at its foot.
Chalchihuitle means green jade. It is also associated with the
moon.
• It has a spacious platform at the top that can be used for
dancing and other rituals in honor of the goddess of water
• Archeologist Saburo Sugiyama excavated tunnels under the
Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan and discovered that it
was actually seven superimposed pyramids, one built on top
of another.
The Pyramid of the Moon from atop the Pyramid of the Sun.
Photo by Alexandre Bourdeu.
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Excavations led by Saburo Sugiyama revealed that the Pyramid of the Moon
at Teotihuacan is actually formed by seven superimposed pyramids, one
built on top of another.
Source: National Geographic, “Pyramids of Death” at 19:42
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_1PzJwkg4
View of the Avenue of the Dead (center) and Pyramid of the Sun (left)
from the Temple of the Moon, Teotihuacán. Photo by Nick Leonard.
THE TEOTIHUACAN CROSS
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The Feathered Serpent
• Quetzalcoatl (Nahuatl quetzalli, “tail feather of the quetzal bird, and coatl,
“snake”), the Feathered Serpent.
• Representations as early as the Teotihuacán civilization (3rd to 8th
century AD) At that time, the Feathered Serpent was a vegetation god, an
earth and water deity closely associated to Tlaloc.
• The subsequent Toltec culture (9th through 12th centuries), emphasized
war and human sacrifice linked with the worship of heavenly bodies. The
Feathered Serpent was the principal Toltec deity.
• In Aztec times (14th through 16th centuries) The Feathered Serpent
(Quetzalcóatl ) was revered as the patron of priests, the inventor of the
calendar and of books, and the protector of goldsmiths and other
craftsmen; he was also identified with the planet Venus.
THE PYRAMID OF THE FEATHERED
SERPENT
• Heads of a water serpent associated with
Quetzalcoatl and of a mythical figure considered
Tlaloc, the god with a bow on his headress or
cipactle which is amphibian, representing the union
of earth and water – water land “the agricultural
basis of all societies.”
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PYRAMID OF THE FEATHERED SERPENT
DETAIL OF THE PYRAMID OF THE
FEATHERED SERPENT
DETAIL OF THE PYRAMID OF THE
FEATHERED SERPENT
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Almost 200 victims found under the pyramid of the
Feathered Serpent
THE TEMPLE OF QUETZALCOATL
• Exploratory tunnels have helped made the
discovery of graves of high-ranking people or
warriors captured and sacrificed to the
building. There were 20 and 13 individuals
representing probably the calendar: months
and days in a position reflecting the four
cardinal points.
ORIGIN MYTH
• In Nahuatl, Teotihuacan means “place where humans
became gods”
• According to the Aztecs, this is where the sun and
moon were created
• The most humble of them, Nanahuatzin, “the
purulent one” threw himself into the flames and
became the sun. All the gods sacrificed themselves
for humankind.
• The lords were wise men, knowers of occult things,
possessors of the the traditions
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TEOTIHUACAN –
ORIGIN MYTH
• It was the greatest city in the Mesoamerican
Classic Period
• Even in ruins, memories of its grandeur
persisted in the minds of the Aztecs
ANCIENT POEM
Even though it was night
Even though it was not day
Even though there was no light
They gathered
The gods convened
There in Teotihuacan
COSMIC PLANNING
• Teotihuacan was an example of cosmic planning built
on a sacred terrestrial space and following the four
directions of the cosmos as represented by the four
divisions of the city.
• The underworld was represented by the tunnels
under the temples
• The heavens was represented by the summits of the
temples and the sky
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OLDEST POEM
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Awake, the sky is reddening,
The dawn has broken
The flame-colored pheasants are singing,
The butterflies are flying
Hence the old men said that he who had died, had
become a god. They said he has awakened, he has
become a god.
• Codex Matritenses
CIVIC LIFE
• The Classic Period of Mesoamerica occupies
nine centuries after Christ.
• A new way of life develops: an urban life
• It was a multiethnic center that used the
different talents brought by immigrants
Causes of Teotihuacan’s collapse
An extended period of population decline
Decrease in external trade
Eventual collapse
External invasion and subsequent destruction?
An internal uprising against local elites?
The effects of drought that began in the late 6th century AD
and it seems to have extended generally in the region?
A combination of all of the above?
• Little evidence for an external invasion
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Fall of Teotihuacan
• Scholars had thought that invaders attacked the city in the 7th or 8th
century, sacking and burning it. More recent evidence, however, seems to
indicate that the burning was limited to the structures and dwellings
associated primarily with the elite class. Some think this suggests that the
burning was from an internal uprising.
• Some say the invasion theory is flawed because early archaeological work
on the city was focused exclusively on the palaces and temples, places
used by the elites. Because all of these sites showed burning,
archaeologists concluded that the whole city was burned. Instead, it is
now known that the destruction was centered on major civic structures
along the Avenue of the Dead. Some statues seem to have been destroyed
in a methodical way, with their fragments dispersed.
Fall of Teotihuacan
(continued)
• Evidence for population decline beginning around the 6th century lends
some support to the internal unrest hypothesis. The decline of Teotihucán
has been correlated to lengthy droughts related to the climate changes of
535-536 CE.
• This theory of ecological decline is supported by archaeological remains
that show a rise in the percentage of juvenile skeletons with evidence of
malnutrition during the 6th century. This finding does not conflict with
either of the above theories, since both increased warfare and internal
unrest can also be effects of a general period of drought and famine
Fall of Teotihuacan
(continued)
• Other nearby centers such as Cholula, Xochicalco,
Tlaxcala, and Cacaxtla competed to fill the power
vacuum left by Teotihuacan's decline. They may have
aligned themselves against Teotihuacan to reduce its
influence and power. The art and architecture at
these sites emulates Teotihuacan forms, but also
demonstrates an eclectic mix of motifs and
iconography from other parts of Mesoamerica,
particularly the Maya region.
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