Eleanor and I were continually surprised by the influence of pre-Hispanic
culture in Mexico. Even the advertising at the Cinemex megaplex
featured pyramids. Many place names are not in Spanish but in
indigenous languages such as Nahuatl. In Mexico, archaeology is
limited not by the ability to find good places to dig but by
funding. There are ancient ruins under much of Mexico city and in
many other places as well, but few are as grand as Teotihuacan.
This picture is of the spectacular view from the top of the Pyramid of the
Moon. The large pyramid in the distance on the left is the much
larger Pyramid of the Sun. |
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This whole site was once a thriving
marketplace. Originally the main export from this area was obsidian
a black volcanic glass that can be chipped into many forms including sharp
tools and beautiful sculptures.
After the Spaniards arrived, a new export became even more important -
natural red and yellow dyes that didn't fade. The man at the left is
demonstrating the dyes. The rock in the red circle is encrusted with
the eggs of a certain caterpillar. When heated, the eggs create a
striking red dye that doesn't fade - this quickly became the most valuable
export from the region as the importance of obsidian declined with the
introduction of metal tools. The man also demonstrated a yellow dye
from a local plant. Eleanor and I bought an envelope of postcards
with a sample of each dye on it and they continue to be just as bright as
when he applied them (see the green circle at left).
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Teotihuacan isn't just two big pyramids. At right is a picture of a huge
plaza surrounded by "small" (comparatively) pyramids. Note
the people walking by for scale. |
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Some of these pyramids feature
Qetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. Qetzalcoatl has two faces, the
face of water and the face of drought, both of which are features in the
design to the left. The Quetzal, a bird with extremely long tail
feathers, was highly-valued. Many headpieces featured its
feathers. The trick was to get the long tail feathers without
harming the bird so that it could produce more for the next season.
(The Qetzal is pictured on Guatemalan money today.)
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These carvings were originally covered with plaster and colored
brightly. You can still see some remnants of that, but most of the
covering is now gone. |
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Teotihuacan was also home to an ancient
high-density housing project. The stone walls at left were a
corridor in the housing portion of the city. We don't know exactly
what the roofing material was, but it may have been split tree
trunks. (There is very little wood in the area now but there may
have been at one time.)
If you look closely at the full-size version, you will notice that the
wall at the back of the picture has small stones in the mortar between the
rocks - it looks like a dotted line. This is a signal that that part
of the wall has been reconstructed. The lower part of the wall was
intact, but the top was restored.
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Finally, the crown jewel of Teotihuacan, the Pyramid of the Sun.
The pyramids of the sun and moon were dedicated to a pair of gods.
Merchants now sell small obsidian figurines of the gods.
The pyramids had been covered with dirt over the years so the restoring
team, in a hurry to meet a deadline for a site dedication used explosives
to clear the dirt from the stone pyramids. That meant that much of
the pyramid had to be rebuilt. The director of the project led the
reconstruction from the ground which allowed him, inadvertently, to
reproduce an optical illusion that makes the angles appear correct from
the ground. Still, the pyramid is extremely tall. Note the
people at the top of the pyramid in this photo. |
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