COIMBATORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

TEOTIHUACAN

NAME : M. Lohit
REGISTRATION NUMBER :2004069
DOMAIN : ECE ( SEC II )
BATCH : 2020-2024
MOBILE NUMBER :9361033401
 INTRODUCTION
1. Teotihuacan is an ancient Mesoamerican city located 30 miles (50 km)
northeast of modern-day Mexico City.
2. The city, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987
3. It was settled as early as 400 B.C and became the most powerful and
influential city in the region by 400 A.D.
4. By the time the Aztecs found the city in the 1400s and named it Teotihuacan
(meaning “the place where the gods were created”), the city had been
abandoned for centuries.
5. Teotihuacan’s origins, history, and culture largely remain a mystery.
6. At its apogee(500 CE), ET encompassed 20 square kilometre and supported a
population of 125000 to 200000
7. Making it at least the sixth-largest city in the world during its epoch.
8. Its influence was felt throughout Central Mexico and as far south as
Guatemala
9. The collapse of Teotihuacan, central Mexico was dominated by the Toltecs of
Tula until about 1150 CE.
10. Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for
its complex, multi-family residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead, and
its vibrant, well-preserved murals.
11. Additionally, Teotihuacan exported fine obsidian tools that are found
throughout Mesoamerica.
12. Teotihuacan began as a religious center in the Mexican Highlands around the
first century CE.
13. It became the largest and most populated center in the pre-Columbian
Americas.
14. Teotihuacan was home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to
accommodate the large population.
15. The term Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacano) is also used for the whole civilization
and cultural complex associated with the site.
16. Evidence of Teotihuacan presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz
and the Maya region.
17. The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and claimed a common ancestry
with the Teotihuacanos, modifying and adopting aspects of their culture.
18. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is the subject of debate with
possible candidates as the Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups.
19. Scholars have suggested that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state since they
find cultural aspects connected to the Maya as well as Oto-Pamean people.
20. The city and the archaeological site are located in what is now the San Juan
Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, approximately 40 kilometres
(25 mi) northeast of Mexico City.
21. The site covers a total surface area of 83 square kilometres (32 sq. mi)
22. It is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico, receiving 4,185,017
visitors in 2017.
23. In addition to some 2,000 single-story apartment compounds, the ruined city
contains great plazas, temples, a canalized river, and palaces of nobles and
priests.
24. The main buildings are connected by a 130-foot- (40-metre-) wide road, the
Avenue of the Dead (“Calle de los Muertos”), that stretches 1.5 miles (2.4
km); oriented slightly east of true north, it points directly at the nearby sacred
peak of Cerro Gordo.
25. The Avenue of the Dead was once erroneously thought to have been lined
with tombs, but the low buildings that flank it probably were palace
residences.
26. The name Teotihuacan was given by the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs centuries
after the fall of the city around 550 CE.
27. The term has been glossed as “birthplace of the gods”, or “place where gods
were born”, reflecting Nahualt creation myths that were said to occur in
Teotihuacan.
28. Nahuatl scholar Thelma D. Sullivan interprets the name as “place of those
who have the road of the gods.”
29. This is because the Aztecs believed that the gods created the universe at that
site.
30. The original name of the city is unknown, but it appears in hieroglyphic texts
from the Maya region as puh, or “Place of Reeds”.
31. This led to much confusion in the early 20th century.
32. As of January 23, 2018 the name “Teotihuacan” has come under scrutiny by
experts, who now feel that the site’s name may have been changed by Spanish
colonizers in the 16th century.
33. Archaeologist Veronica Ortega of the National Institute of Anthropology and
History states that the city appears to have actually been named “Teohuacan”,
meaning “City of the Sun” rather than “City of the Gods”, as the current name
suggests.
34. Today, Teotihuacan is one of the most noted archaeological attractions in
Mexico.
35. In the late 17th century Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (1645–1700) made
some excavations around the Pyramid of the Sun.
36. In the 1960s and ’70s the first systematic survey (the Teotihuacán Mapping
Project) was led by the American archaeologist René Millon, and hundreds of
workers in 1980–82 excavated under the direction of the Mexican
archaeologist Rubén Cabrera Castro.
37. Work in the 1990s focused on the city’s subterranean tunnels and on the
apartment compounds, which were found to be decorated with vividly painted
murals.
38. Long-standing threats to the greater area of ruins are posed by human
habitation (including five towns), numerous shops, roads and highways, and a
military base.
39. Many neighbourhoods excavated in the late 20th century had been earlier
cultivated by farmers
40. The archaeological park of Teotihuacan is under threat from development
pressures.
41. In 2004, the governor of Mexico state, Arturo Montiel, gave permission for
Wal-Mart to build a large store in the third archaeological zone of the park.
42. More recently, Teotihuacan has become the center of controversy over
Resplandor Teotihuacano, a massive light and sound spectacular installed to
create a night time show for tourists.
43. Critics explain that the large number of perforations for the project have
caused fractures in stones and irreversible damage, while the project will have
limited benefit.
Avenue of Dead
44. It is the city’s central broad Avenue
45. The Avenue of the Dead is roughly 40 meters wide and 4 km long.
46. It is surrounded by impressive ceremonial architecture, including the immense
Pyramid of the Sun (third largest in the World after the Great Pyramid of
Cholula and the Great Pyramid of Giza).
47. Pyramid of the Moon and The Citadel with Temple of the Feathered Serpent
Quetzalcoatl are placed at both ends of the Avenue while Palace-museum
Quetzalpapalot, the fourth basic structure of site, is situated between two main
pyramids.
48. Along the Avenue are many smaller Talud-tablero(Talud-tablero is an
architectural style most commonly used in platforms, temples, and pyramids in
Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. This may also be referred to as the slope-and-
panel style.) platforms as well.
49. The Aztecs believed they were tombs, inspiring the name of the avenue.
Scholars have now established that these were ceremonial platforms that were
topped with temples.
50. Further down the Avenue of the Dead, after a small river, is the area known as
the Citadel, containing the ruined Temple of the Feathered Serpent
Quetzalcoatl.
51. This area was a large plaza surrounded by temples that formed the religious
and political center of the city.
52. It contains artificial landscape like cave under pyramid of sun, and San Juan
River, which was modified to bend around the structures as it goes through the
centre of town eventually to return to its natural course outside of
Teotihuacan.
Pyramid of the Sun
53. Pyramid of the Sun, large pyramid in the ancient city of Teotihuacán, Mexico,
that was built about 100 CE and is one of the largest structures of its type in
the Western Hemisphere.
54. The pyramid rises 216 feet (66 metres) above ground level, and it measures
approximately 720 by 760 feet (220 by 230 metres) at its base.
55. It is the third largest pyramid after Great Pyramid of Cholula and Great
Pyramid of Giza
56. The Pyramid of the Sun dominates central Teotihuacán from the east side of
the Avenue of the Dead, the main north–south artery of the city. It was
constructed of about 1,000,000 cubic yards (765,000 cubic metres) of material,
including hewed tezontle, a red coarse volcanic rock of the region.
57. During hastily organized restoration work in 1905–10, the architect Leopoldo
Batres arbitrarily added a fifth terrace, and many of the original facing stones
were removed.
58. On the pyramid’s west side, there are 248 uneven stair steps that lead to the
top of the structure.
59. So, It is the largest pyramid where we can go to top afoot
60. Archaeologists believe that there was once a temple atop the pyramid.
61. In the early 1970s exploration below the pyramid revealed a system of caves
and tunnel chambers, and other tunnels were later found throughout the city.
The Pyramid of the Moon
62. The Pyramid of the Moon is the second largest pyramid in modern-day San
Juan Teotihuacán, Mexico, after the Pyramid of the Sun and rises to 140 feet
(43 metres) and measures 426 by 511 feet (130 by 156 metres) at its base.
63. It is located in the western part of the ancient city of Teotihuacan and mimics
the contours of the mountain Cerro Gordo, just north of the site.
64. Cerro Gordo may have been called Tenan, which in Nahuatl, means “mother
or protective stone.”
65. The Pyramid of the Moon covers a structure older than the Pyramid of the Sun
which existed prior to 200 AD.
66. Its main stairway faces the Avenue of the Dead.
Citadel
67. Along the southern part of the avenue lies the Ciudadela (“Citadel”), a large
square courtyard covering 38 acres (15 hectares).
68. Within the Citadel stands the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent)
in the form of a truncated pyramid; projecting from its ornately decorated
walls are numerous stone heads of the deity.
69. The temple walls were once painted in hematite red.
70. Excavations of the Citadel were first carried out during the period 1917–20.
Individual burial sites were found around the temple in 1925, and in the early
 1980s archaeologists discovered the ceremonially interred remains of 18 men,
probably soldiers who had been ritually sacrificed.
71. Carbon-14 dating indicated that the graves were prepared about 200 CE.
Further work has revealed more than 130 skeletons of both sexes in mass
graves along the edges of the temple, as well as beneath it.
72. So, Archaeologists believe this was a temple with human sacrifice.
73. Teotihuacan is an important archaeological site in Mesoamerican society and
It is famous site to visit in Mexico with pyramids which can be climbed
74. Reference:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_the_Sun
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan

1. The city, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987

2. It was settled as early as 400 B.C and became the most powerful and influential city
in the region by 400 A.D.

3. By the time the Aztecs found the city in the 1400s and named it Teotihuacan
(meaning “the place where the gods were created”), the city had been abandoned
for centuries.

4. Teotihuacan’s origins, history, and culture largely remain a mystery.

5. At its apogee(500 CE), ET encompassed 20 square kilometre and supported a

population of 125000 to 200000

6. Making it at least the sixth-largest city in the world during its epoch.
7. Its influence was felt throughout Central Mexico and as far south as Guatemala

8. The collapse of Teotihuacan, central Mexico was dominated by the Toltecs of Tula
until about 1150 CE.

9. Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its
complex, multi-family residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead, and its
vibrant, well-preserved murals.

10. Additionally, Teotihuacan exported fine obsidian tools that are found throughout
Mesoamerica.

11. Teotihuacan began as a religious center in the Mexican Highlands around the first
century CE.

12. It became the largest and most populated center in the pre-Columbian Americas.

13. Teotihuacan was home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate

the large population.

14. The term Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacano) is also used for the whole civilization and
cultural complex associated with the site.

15. Evidence of Teotihuacan presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and
the Maya region.
16. The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and claimed a common ancestry with
the Teotihuacanos, modifying and adopting aspects of their culture.

17. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is the subject of debate with possible
candidates as the Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups.

18. Scholars have suggested that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state since they find
cultural aspects connected to the Maya as well as Oto-Pamean people.

19. The city and the archaeological site are located in what is now the San Juan
Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, approximately 40 kilometres (25
mi) northeast of Mexico City.

20. The site covers a total surface area of 83 square kilometres (32 sq. mi)

21. It is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico, receiving 4,185,017 visitors in
2017.

22. In addition to some 2,000 single-story apartment compounds, the ruined city
contains great plazas, temples, a canalized river, and palaces of nobles and priests.

23. The main buildings are connected by a 130-foot- (40-metre-) wide road, the Avenue
of the Dead (“Calle de los Muertos”), that stretches 1.5 miles (2.4 km); oriented
slightly east of true north, it points directly at the nearby sacred peak of Cerro
Gordo.

24. The Avenue of the Dead was once erroneously thought to have been lined with
tombs, but the low buildings that flank it probably were palace residences.
25. The name Teotihuacan was given by the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs centuries after the
fall of the city around 550 CE.

26. The term has been glossed as “birthplace of the gods”, or “place where gods were
born”, reflecting Nahualt creation myths that were said to occur in Teotihuacan.

27. Nahuatl scholar Thelma D. Sullivan interprets the name as “place of those who have
the road of the gods.”

28. This is because the Aztecs believed that the gods created the universe at that site.

29. The original name of the city is unknown, but it appears in hieroglyphic texts from
the Maya region as puh, or “Place of Reeds”.

30. This led to much confusion in the early 20 th century.

31. As of January 23, 2018 the name “Teotihuacan” has come under scrutiny by experts,
who now feel that the site’s name may have been changed by Spanish colonizers in
the 16th century.

32. Archaeologist Veronica Ortega of the National Institute of Anthropology and History
states that the city appears to have actually been named “Teohuacan”, meaning
“City of the Sun” rather than “City of the Gods”, as the current name suggests.

33. Today, Teotihuacan is one of the most noted archaeological attractions in Mexico.

34. In the late 17th century Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (1645–1700) made some
excavations around the Pyramid of the Sun.
 35. In the 1960s and ’70s the first systematic survey (the Teotihuacán Mapping Project)
was led by the American archaeologist René Millon, and hundreds of workers in
1980–82 excavated under the direction of the Mexican archaeologist Rubén Cabrera
Castro.

36. Work in the 1990s focused on the city’s subterranean tunnels and on the apartment
compounds, which were found to be decorated with vividly painted murals.

37. Long-standing threats to the greater area of ruins are posed by human habitation
(including five towns), numerous shops, roads and highways, and a military base.

38. Many neighbourhoods excavated in the late 20 th century had been earlier cultivated
by farmers

39. The archaeological park of Teotihuacan is under threat from development pressures.

40. In 2004, the governor of Mexico state, Arturo Montiel, gave permission for Wal-Mart
to build a large store in the third archaeological zone of the park.

41. More recently, Teotihuacan has become the center of controversy over Resplandor
Teotihuacano, a massive light and sound spectacular installed to create a night time
show for tourists.

42. Critics explain that the large number of perforations for the project have caused
fractures in stones and irreversible damage, while the project will have limited
benefit.

Avenue of Dead
43. It is the city’s central broad Avenue

44. The Avenue of the Dead is roughly 40 meters wide and 4 km long.

45. It is surrounded by impressive ceremonial architecture, including the immense

Pyramid of the Sun (third largest in the World after the Great Pyramid of Cholula and
the Great Pyramid of Giza).

46. Pyramid of the Moon and The Citadel with Temple of the Feathered Serpent
Quetzalcoatl are placed at both ends of the Avenue while Palace-museum
Quetzalpapalot, the fourth basic structure of site, is situated between two main
pyramids.

47. Along the Avenue are many smaller Talud-tablero(Talud-tablero is an architectural

style most commonly used in platforms, temples, and pyramids in Pre-Columbian
Mesoamerica. This may also be referred to as the slope-and-panel style.) platforms
as well.

48. The Aztecs believed they were tombs, inspiring the name of the avenue. Scholars
have now established that these were ceremonial platforms that were topped with
temples.

49. Further down the Avenue of the Dead, after a small river, is the area known as the
Citadel, containing the ruined Temple of the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl.

50. This area was a large plaza surrounded by temples that formed the religious and
political center of the city.
 51. It contains artificial landscape like cave under pyramid of sun, and San Juan River,
which was modified to bend around the structures as it goes through the centre of
town eventually to return to its natural course outside of Teotihuacan.

Pyramid of the Sun

52. Pyramid of the Sun, large pyramid in the ancient city of Teotihuacán, Mexico, that
was built about 100 CE and is one of the largest structures of its type in the Western
Hemisphere.

53. The pyramid rises 216 feet (66 metres) above ground level, and it measures
approximately 720 by 760 feet (220 by 230 metres) at its base.

54. It is the third largest pyramid after Great Pyramid of Cholula and Great Pyramid of
Giza

55. The Pyramid of the Sun dominates central Teotihuacán from the east side of the
Avenue of the Dead, the main north–south artery of the city. It was constructed of
about 1,000,000 cubic yards (765,000 cubic metres) of material, including hewed
tezontle, a red coarse volcanic rock of the region.

56. During hastily organized restoration work in 1905–10, the architect Leopoldo Batres
arbitrarily added a fifth terrace, and many of the original facing stones were
removed.

57. On the pyramid’s west side, there are 248 uneven stair steps that lead to the top of
the structure.

58. So, It is the largest pyramid where we can go to top afoot

 59. Archaeologists believe that there was once a temple atop the pyramid.

60. In the early 1970s exploration below the pyramid revealed a system of caves and
tunnel chambers, and other tunnels were later found throughout the city.

The Pyramid of the Moon

61. The Pyramid of the Moon is the second largest pyramid in modern-day San Juan
Teotihuacán, Mexico, after the Pyramid of the Sun and rises to 140 feet (43 metres)
and measures 426 by 511 feet (130 by 156 metres) at its base.

62. It is located in the western part of the ancient city of Teotihuacan and mimics the
contours of the mountain Cerro Gordo, just north of the site.

63. Cerro Gordo may have been called Tenan, which in Nahuatl, means “mother or
protective stone.”

64. The Pyramid of the Moon covers a structure older than the Pyramid of the Sun
which existed prior to 200 AD.

65. Its main stairway faces the Avenue of the Dead.

Citadel

66. Along the southern part of the avenue lies the Ciudadela (“Citadel”), a large square
courtyard covering 38 acres (15 hectares).
 67. Within the Citadel stands the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent) in the
form of a truncated pyramid; projecting from its ornately decorated walls are
numerous stone heads of the deity.

68. The temple walls were once painted in hematite red.

69. Excavations of the Citadel were first carried out during the period 1917–20.
Individual burial sites were found around the temple in 1925, and in the early 1980s
archaeologists discovered the ceremonially interred remains of 18 men, probably
soldiers who had been ritually sacrificed.

70. Carbon-14 dating indicated that the graves were prepared about 200 CE. Further
work has revealed more than 130 skeletons of both sexes in mass graves along the
edges of the temple, as well as beneath it.

71. So, Archaeologists believe this was a temple with human sacrifice.

72. Teotihuacan is an important archaeological site in Mesoamerican society and It is

famous site to visit in Mexico with pyramids which can be climbed

73. Reference:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_the_Sun

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan