Teotihuacan
(Place of the Gods)
 |
| A view of the Pyramid of the Sun from the top of the Pyramid of the Moon. |
I. Eight
square-mile site located 30 miles NE of Mexico city 2,900 B.P. - 850 B.P.
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| The ruins of Teotihuacan, looking down the the Avenue of the Dead and at the Pyramid of the Moon from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun. |
II. We use the
Aztec name for this place and its people. The people who built this site left
mammoth bones which caused the Aztecs to believe that the people who had built
it were giants. They were not Aztecs, sometimes they are mistaken for the
ancestors of the Toltecs, but this has not proved true.
A. Those who died in war, childbirth, or drowning went to the
highest heaven.
B. The sign for Teotihuacan was the reptile eye glyph.
III. Incredible
amounts of remains, new stuff all the time.
IV. Time line
A. Late preclassic - 100-400A.D. it was a great ceremonial
center.
B. 400-700 A.D. suburban population of >100,000.
C. 700 A.D. - site abandoned.
V. Arts have a
tendency to emphasize symmetry and repetition
A.
Architecture of city Axial site layout, Camino del Muerto (50 yds. wide) runs N
- S for over a mile, and has a large plaza at the foot of the Pyramid of the
moon.
1. Pyramid of the Sun called Southern structure, currently 210’ high.
a. First built of all the structures, topped by a temple and idol destroyed
16th century.
b. E - W orientation (15 30 min.) it rests on a platform 1/4 mile an each
side. Stairs rise to east marked by summer solstice. Talud-tablero
Talud = vertical wall
Tablero = sloped wall
c. Entirely human built on flat ground it was overbuilt on ruins.
d. Found a four room cave beneath this.
i. Chicomoztoc - place of 7 caves. Origin myth of many peoples.
e. Once covered with a thick (12") coating of stucco. Making stucco required burning lime in the form of limestone or shell and the wood from thousands of trees. The cutting and the burning of the trees created a desert in central Mexico where forests had once covered the land. In more than 1,200 years the forests have not returned there. What is the message for contemporary North Americans in this story?
2. Pyramid of the Moon - Northern Structure, now 135’ high.
a. Smaller than the P of Sun. Base is 390 x 490’ or 190,000 sq. ft.
Volume more than 1/4 million cubic meters.
3. Ciudadela - Temple of Quetzalcoatl & Tlaloc.
a.
Discovered under a newer structure during a repair.
b.
Three-dimensional, tenon heads of the “feathered serpent.”
c. Tlaloc had massive goggle eyes,
jaguar fangs, stream runs from hands.
i. Rain deity, corn deity which required baby tears.
.
ii. this temple was over built at least
4. Bordering the ceremonial centers were
a.
The palaces of the wealthy.
i. Milk-white stuccoed walls, brilliantly painted with murals.
b.
Minor civic centers.
c. Sightly further out were multi family apartment houses.
d. Artisan centers include stone carvers, textilists, metal workers, feather
workers.
e.
Market squares bustled with activity.
VI. Stone
carving.
A. Gigantic sculpture of Water Goddess over 100 tons found face
down near base of P of Moon. Other colossal sculptures rare, except
stelae.
B. Smaller sculpture usually of stone which takes a high polish,
basalt, serpentine, jade, onyx.
1. One group are small human figures standing or seated
cross-legged.
a. It is thought many are individual portraits.
2. The other group are stone masks.
a. Use? No eye holes & too heavy for jewelry
b. Attempted realism. Inlaid shell teeth, jewelry
VI. Pottery
A. Pottery figurines found in enormous numbers.
1. oldest are pre-classic
2. Most Classic figurines were mold made and some molds are
still satisfying tourists desire to collect pseudo-antique Mesoamerican
art.
a. wheeled
feline and the road issue.
B. Vessels of the classic period.
1. Many were incensors not found
with burials.
a. Cylindrical
form supported on tripod legs reminiscent of nose-bar or talud-tablero.
b. Mold made elements.
c. Emphasis is
mostly on negative space
2. Many had a conical cover topped by a knob.
3. Decoration of surface
a. Some are
stuccoed and painted like murals (fresco) beginning around the year
zero.
b. Brush and negative painting.
c. Incising and carving in rounded relief or with sunken backgrounds
(Plano-relief).
d. Champleve - incise after firing and rub with pigment.
C. Roller stamps.
VII. Painting
A. Frescos were quite common all painted on a white surface.
1. Pigments included deep red, black white, light green, light yellow, pink,
light and dark blue.
2. No use of shadow or foreshortening
a. Distance is
created by relative positioning on the vertical.
3. Frequently depict gods and animals, although the bloody gods like Xipe are
absent, many gods same as Aztecs. Still there was human sacrifice as
indicated by knives, blood, and hearts.