Teotihaucán

HIGH ON A PLATEAU in central Mexico
lies the remains of a city that
continues to perplex archaeologists
and historians. Of all the ancient cities of the
Americas, Teotihaucán is the most
enigmatic. Nobody knows what race of
people built it, what they used it for, or why
it was abandoned. Indeed, the remains are
awe-inspiring, but it is believed that 90 per
cent of the city is still buried under the arid
Mexican soil. And yet, this great city of
culture held 200,000 inhabitants at its peak.
So what happened at Teotihaucán?
When later Aztec races found this amazing
urban development they were so impressed
by its construction that they named it
‘Teotihaucán’, meaning ‘The great city where
men become gods’. The focal point of the
city, which spread over 12 square miles, was
an immense building called the Pyramid of
the Sun. This 216-foot-tall structure had a
temple at its summit which indicated the
city was ruled by native religion. At the base
of the pyramid ran a north-south avenue,
which stretched for almost three miles. The
Aztecs called this the ‘Avenue of the Dead’,
believing the small platforms that lined the
series of connecting courtyards to be tombs.
In fact, they were probably temples – it has
since been discovered that the Teotihaucáns
actually buried the dead in their own houses.
At the northern end of the avenue, nearest
the Sun Pyramid, there was a slightly smaller
construction, named the Pyramid of the
Moon. About a mile south down the avenue
there was a vast open area called the Citadel.
This was also surrounded by temples and
had the important Temple of the Feathered
Serpent in its centre. Intersecting the Avenue
of the Dead at its halfway point was another
avenue. The city was therefore based on a
grid system of four quarters. The houses in
this format were built in complexes of
adjoining dwellings, linked by terraces and
Teotihaucán patios. The building of the city began around
200 BC, with the major structures, like the
pyramids, being erected from the first
century AD. By the beginning of the fifth
century AD, the city covered its maximum
surface area, and housed around 100,000
people. Within two centuries this number
had doubled.
But who were the inhabitants?
Archaeologists and historians really do not
know for certain. They were much too early
to be Aztecs, and the Toltec race, despite
having a similar sense of architecture and
civil engineering, did not appear until 200
years after the initial building of Teotihuacán.
There is a possibility that the Olmecs, a race
of great builders and craftsmen who had
flourished between the fifteenth century BC and first century AD, may have been their
ancestors. However, there is no proof to
confirm this, and the writings and records
left by the Teotihaucáns, which would
provide us with their own version of their
history, have never been successfully
translated to. Whoever founded the city did
so with intelligent laws and a strict reverence
for religious matters. It has been suggested
that the city was a major destination for
pilgrims and the training centre for priests.
Despite the people enjoying a structured,
dignified and privileged life, the city of
Teotihaucán was largely destroyed by the
eighth century AD. One theory is that the
population may have been too great for the
local resources although this has been
countered by the knowledge that the rulers
of Teotihaucán were good enough social and
civil engineers to provide for this. It is more
likely that invading barbarians from the
north attacked the city. Indeed, what
historians have garnered from Teotihaucán
murals suggests the roles of soldiers took on
more prominence in the city’s later years.
Teotihaucán itself was not designed to repel
attacks, and recent excavations have
indicated that large, prepared fires were
started in the city during its last days.
Although the origin of the Teotihaucán
race is unknown, the influence it had across
the Mexican region has been proven to be
immense. Some experts consider the
possibility that a mass exodus of
Teotihaucán citizens founded another town
with structure similar to the earlier pyramids
at a site 700 miles away in Kaminaljuyú. But
nothing is known for certain. Even after
nearly a century of intense historical investigation,
the mysterious story of Teotihaucán
is as unknown now as it has been for a
thousand years.