Teotihuacan City

As part of our human nature, we have always been skeptical about how things work. We can trace this all the way back to sites such as Chaco Canyon,Chichen Itza, and Tenochtitlan where they studied astronomy, mathematics, and architecture. As you can see in the picture humans are very diverse and have different interests which are also, shown in sites such as in Tenochtitlan where they were interested in art and architecture. They also, combined both of these interest to construct structures like pyramids where many drawings were carved into the walls. Although there can be differences, there can also be similarities such as in sites like Chaco Canyon and Chichen Itza where they both share an interest in astronomy. Their interest in astronomy

Starting the comparisons of Teotihuacan and Chaco Canyon, we can say that both being an important civilization centers in their respective region, with Teotihuacan being the major center in Mesoamerica, while the Chaco Canyon was the major center of the Ancestral Puebloan civilization. Another common factor were that they both shared the fact the sites were considered holy areas, which were considered important enough to warrant pilgrimages. Both had religious practices preformed in the centers with rituals in Teotihuacan being performed at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, while in the Chaco Canyon religious ceremonies were conducted at one of the 32 kivas located within the great houses. Then finally, both sites were later abandon by

Another society that emerged within Mesoamerica was the metropolis of Teotihuacan that arose around the third century B.C. The city was marked by the construction of pyramids that were dedicated to the gods. These pyramids showed the extreme dedication towards the gods and goddesses from each and every individual living in the surrounding area which allowed the society to unite on a religious ground. Economically, the society was able to grow due to the large marketplace in Teotihuacan that fostered the trade of cacao, feathers, meats, produce, rubber, and more to be traded. The trade of these materials brought increased revenue into the city, allowing its residents to thrive. Geographically, Teotihuacan

The Mayan sincerity was evident not only in the belief of all their gods, but also the various rituals they perform. Such rituals ensured that the Mayans continue to hold together through their religion, which penetrates every part of the Mayan life; and has not shown any signs of rupture. The lunar calendars they designed were a wonder and a miracle of their time philosophy, which considered various aspects of human experiences. These ranged from the biology of human, agricultural cycles, as well as the star and planetary movements. What is more, they endeavored to seek harmony and balance by combining the space with time and the cosmos respectively.

Chaco Canyon, located in what is New Mexico today, closer to Arizona, is one of the archeological sites with many hypothesis and conclusions full of contradiction because of its complexity of what was happening there during Chaco’s economical peak. It is one of the prehistorical places that hold the history of the humans and how complex the organization between social, religious and economical was. The remains of the amazing tall and complex buildings surrounded with roads helped the archeologists to hypothesize the use of those buildings and those roads that surrounded them.

In the most basic sense, the increasing size and grandeur of the temple reflected the growing power of the empire, until its fall at the hands of the Spaniards. But a religious reason also reinforced the construction of the Templo Mayor and its significance in the Aztec empire. The Aztec creation story, greatly condensed, included the creation the deities of death, the heavens, the waters, and the alligator-fish Cipactli at the hands of the gods Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl. From Cipactli, the earth, or Cemanahuac, was formed. Aztec myth also states that Tenochtitlan was founded after early Mexica-Aztecs saw an eagle with a bird in its talons standing above a prickly pear cactus. The eagle was a representation of Huitzilopochtli, their main god. Connecting these two legends, the Aztecs called their capital, Tenochtitlan, Cemanahuac as well, to express their belief that they too were at the center of the universe like earth. To further imitate the universe, which was divided into four parts in Aztec myth, Tenochitlan was dived into four as well. Beginning from the Templo Mayor, which was the city’s center, four lines divided the city into north, south, west, and east barrios. By using Tenochitlan, and even more directly, the Templo Mayor, the Aztec empire declared that they were the chosen-people of the

Tenochtitlan is the religious center and capital for the Aztec population which was well over 200,000 people (1). One of the best known structures from Tenochtitlan is the Templo Mayor, standing in the center of the city. Here they honored their gods as well as conducted rituals such as human sacrifice. Excavations at Tenochtitlan found human remains with wounds that explained stone carvings of violent myths of human sacrifice (2).

Legend has it the Aztec people fled their home city of Aztlan, no one knows the exact location of Aztlan, but we do know that the Mexica founded Tenochtitlan in 1325. The exact reason for the Aztecs building the new city of Tenochtitlan was for Huitzilopochtli, god of war, he ordered the higher-ranking priests to look for “prickly pear cactus and build a temple in his honor.” The Aztecs followed the order and found a place on an island in the middle of lake Texcoca. In the early years times were tough for the people, they lived in huts and harsh conditions, they

Mesoamerica’s first metropolis was Teotihuacán. The metropolis included many palaces and temples, but the main structure was the Pyramid of the Sun. It also consisted of many streets and a huge market that sold various goods and agricultural produce. Most people lived in apartment compounds, some housing over 100 people, made of stucco and consisting of different rooms. Teotihuacán grew wealthy from agriculture due to its location in the Valley of Mexico. This valley provided them with fertile soil as well as a steady supply of water. As the city’s power and wealth declined, the ruling class abandoned the area and principalities and surrounding peoples competed for the farmland. Farmers at this time took

In this article, Sarah C. Clayton examines the gender roles and ideologies in ancient Teotihuacan. Stated in her thesis, this work will provide for a better understanding of social organization and diversity. Anthropologists separate gender (cultural) with sex (biological). For example, there were differences in different places in Teotihuacan, were the “mainstream” society had males with a higher power than females, and in Tlailotlacan, there were equal social status. People were buried underneath the apartment compounds, where archeologists examine the gender and the age and if social status may intersect with gender. Burial brings are essential information to gender roles, as Clayton views different numerical data. The author went more in

Their strong religious beliefs had led them to travel many miles in search of the land they believed the gods wanted them to go. However, finding the place to settle was not an easy task for the Aztecs. They suffered hunger, diseases and others struggles. Still with all those obstacles they where able to find a sign that they believed was sent from the gods to stay in that land. The infamous sign portrayed an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake on its peak. At that point they realized the land in which they where standing was there home and decided to name “Tenochtitlan”. Today, Tenochtitlan is known as Mexico City and is considered to be the largest city on the

Long ago there was a large, powerful empire. This empire had built many large buildings and temples. Those structures are now underneath the streets, buildings, and churches of Mexico City. This empire was the Aztec.

According to Feder, K (2013) the name Teotihuacan (Place where men become Gods) was derived from the Aztecs. The Teotihuacan was the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas in the first half of the first millennium C.E. Till this day no one knows for sure who the Teotihuacan really were. The city was also the center of a major civilization which bears its name, and its influence throughout Mesoamerica. The city flourished between 2,100 years ago, when construction began, and about 1,400 years ago. According to Vance, E. (2014) in his article Gods of Blood & Stone, “The Teotihuacan was an extensive empire that predates all the highland civilizations in the

It was built during classic Maya period ca. 800-900 CE. The urban design in Chichen Itza is perfectly planned. The Mayan build pyramids and Temples in sets of clusters. The great Chichen Itza urban area it is far away from the visited zone today.

The location of this great metropolis is a subvalley of the Valley of Mexico. In its northwestern region, the area it occupies is considered to be a highly strategic because it controls access to the valley. This proved to be quite beneficial for aiding and accelerating the development of the Teotihuacan culture. The valley of Mexico is home to obsidian sources, permanent springs, lake systems, irrigable agricultural lands, deposits of salt and limestone, the later was extremely important for construction of the majority of the structures found at this site.