I want to pass this on from INAH. Enjoy. -- Paul E. Pettennude TEOTIHUACAN At the far northeast of the valley of Mexico, the valley of Teotihuacan is formed, with an extension of approx., 600 km2, the San Juan river runs by it (its main sewer) and ends up in the Texcoco lake, having numerous springs as well. Located at a height of 2 200 m. above sea level it is considered that it begun in the II century b.c., being considered the most important culture of the central area of the old Mexico. For the study of Teotihuacan several divisions have been, made in relation to the time and phases of development of this culture, Teotihuacan I, II, and III; although after this division was made, it has been discovered that earlier phases existed and are known like: Cuanalan and Patlachique, very different from each other, these phases are considered the precedent of the Teotihuacan culture, since it does not emerge spontaneously. During these phases Teotihuacan turns into a large town of more than 6 km2 in extension, reaching a population of 10 000 people. At least four volcano-rock working shops have been discovered which probably begun in this era; they specialized in producing arrow heads and knives that were carved by percussion. Perhaps that was the first impulse that launched Teotihuacan to a commercial road that as time went by became more important, giving the future city an internationalization concept, so evident in the later eras. TEOTIHUACAN I This era takes up the two centuries prior to the Christian era approximately; during this era, the city grew up enormously both in extension and in population, it maybe reached 50 000 inhabitants which was located in its majority on the north and the west regions, but with varying densities. In this time other towns of the valley diminished in population since its inhabitants move to Teotihuacan where more and better attractions are offered. In this period the Calzada de los Muertos is designed in its north end, possibly the East and West avenues are begun; the city is acquiring its definite shape, large avenues with a cross-like plan and the division in quadrants, the definite north-south orientation is established, with a deviation of 15'30" to the east of north, remember the orientation of the oldest planned city in Mesoamerica, La Venta with 8' to the west of north. In this phase the majority of the city's most colossal buildings were built: the pyramid of the Sun, which was amplified twice and reached then its actual height, and the interior building of the pyramid of the Moon. The pyramid of the Sun has an almost square base of 222 m by 225 m, formed of four sloped bodies with a total height of more than 63 m, without counting the temple that crowned it, now lost, formed by huge cross beams that do not end in a board, built almost completely from clay, with the exterior covered with cut but not polished rock. There is an older construction, almost of the same size in its interior both of them built in this phase. There are approximately twenty-three complexes of temples, formed by three temples that enclose other sides of a patio and a low platform limiting the fourth side of the patio that correspond to third era. It is possible that since this phase certain irrigation projects were begun and new lands were cultivated; the production of shops and commerce develop. Teotihuacan begun importing green volcano-rock, since the local was gray, from the Navajas mountain in Hidalgo. Taking into account the development that is reached in the different fields it is believed that social division existed with a predominant state and a profesionalization of activities, in other words, crafts were not made as a hobby but rather as a primordial activity. From this, Teotihuacan reaches great importance in the local market, center and source, with the temple (religion), of the cities of Mesoamerica. TEOTIHUACAN II This period lasts until the year of 350 a.d. During this phase the metropolitan area which goes from the valley of Mexico as well as the one from Puebla, controlling part of Hidalgo, was founded. In this era, its considered an empire, since signs of its influence can be observed in the valley of Oaxaca, in Veracruz and even in Kaminaljuyu, in the High Plateau of Guatemala; accepting ideas from the outside as well. Its political and commercial center is built, the Gran Conjunto formed by the Quetzalcoatl temple (this is considered one of the most richly decorated and sumptuous of the ancient Mexico) and the quadrangle in front of it, the East and West avenues are well established, running in more than 3 km to the south of the avenue of the Muertos. In the Quetzalcoatl temple a great work can be observed. It has six stepped bodies with a small cross beams and a great board, in the center of the west facade, a great set of steps with the side walls decorated with serpent heads in high relief, the cross beams are also decorated with serpents in low relief with the complete animal, with some sea shells and snails. The stone was cut, adjusted, polished and painted in vivid colors of which some remains can still be seen. The center of activities is located to the south and to the north the religious and more solemn function is left. In this phase the surface that it occupied got to be 20 km2 and had about 100 000 inhabitants. The main avenue is the North-South, Calzada de los Muertos-Micaotli-, in this era the pyramid of the moon and its sensational plaza -one of the most beautiful in the world-. The walls were covered with lime and there were murals painted on them, the motifs were usually animals, with scenes that occur in the water. The field of sculpture was not as developed as the field of painting, which in fact was imitated. Several neighborhoods can be located, limited by the precedence as well as the profession of those who lived there. More than four hundred shops, ceramic, rock, and sea-shell working. Teotihuacan was a city where people from other places, sometimes far-ones, lived, which in part promoted its great development. It is believed that numerous pilgrims got there to ask favors to the gods, impressed by the greatness of the city as a whole and its impressive buildings, being an esthetic and emotional attraction. TEOTIHUACAN III In this great final era (350-650), what had been accomplished before is consolidated and it expands, the city reaches its maximum splendor and prestige, although its area is reduced to 19 km2, reaching 200 000 inhabitants (approx). Many of the monuments that we see today belong to this time. A great portion of the temples that were excavated and partially reconstructed in 1962 and 1964, such as the Quetzalpapalotl palace, in the plaza of the moon; a great part of the more than two hundred murals that were recovered, in palaces, temples and houses belong to this palace, where essentially religious and symbolic scenes can be observed, the painting expresses a great sense of lines and movement, manifesting works with a symmetrical, obscure, and proper tendencies, with an extraordinary refinement of color. In the religious paintings official representations where gods and priests can be observed, who wear complicated clothing's, enormous accessories and numerous jade jewels, while they celebrate some ritual act. In another group of paintings there are no human figures, but only animals, which are jaguars, fish, birds, serpents in some violent and not so violent scenes; we can also find another group in the paintings, the abstract, where figures created by the imagination appear, simple decorative motifs, friezes or ornaments that were placed like a frame around the painting, or in some other cases by themselves as in the Quetzalpapalotl temple, being the main motif. It is worth mentioning the fact that in the paintings there are no women nor is there an apparent interest in her, nor is sexual pleasure insinuated and the beauty of the human body is ignored. One of the most interesting murals is the Tlalocan. Talocan's Mural represents the paradise of the god of the Rain, to which only those who died drowned or by consequence of the water got there. The god of water is worshipped a great deal which makes it apparent that water was scarce, although there were springs and a very large lake nearby. Teotihuacan art has something that does not change, and lives in the strength of its pyramids as well as in the splendid stone masks or in the fine ceramics. At the end, it turns flowery and baroque in extreme. During the final era of the city (650-700 a.d.), Teotihuacan society crumbles, but the total inhabited area is almost the same as in the times of its normal life and the number of inhabitants only diminishes slowly. At the end, the inhabitants of the old residential zones no longer lived in isolated houses and the majority of them were congregated in houses or apartments, which most likely had to produce considerable changes in the life of the Teotihuacan. The groups would be more closely related in the physical sense, but the agglomeration must have caused numerous frictions; the increase in population multiplied the urban and economic problems. It is believed that the economic problem created a separating gap between the government and the governed, a gap between the people and the representatives of the gods and their oppression. Some of the towns nearby furthered themselves from the city, loosing the control that this one once had. The greatest abandonment of the city only occurred from the VIII century. One possible explanation to this could be given by the invasion of the aggressive Chichimeca tribes that ravaged everything that they found on their path. The city was burned, looted and partly destroyed; the signs of the final fire are evident in many of the temples alongside the Calzada de los Muertos. Where this is most evident is in the Quetzalpapalotl palace. Here they not only burnt the ceilings, but they also dismantled the beautiful columns sculpted with the effigy of the god and in part they were buried in the central patio. Also the monumental staircase of the pyramid of the Moon was destroyed and almost all the large stones of the steps were broken and scattered by the plaza. Perhaps in that same occasion the enormous statue of the water goddess was also carried several meters, that was supposed to be on top of the pyramid of the Moon and was found in 1860 142 m to the west of the pyramid. During the next two hundred years the conquerors and the beaten Teotihuacanos co-lived in the area, but never are the ravaged temples reconstructed nor does it recover its greatness as a city. Teotihuacan established for the first time in this valley the political, cultural, religious and economic center of what we now call Mexico. Thanks to its sensational success no other zone could accomplish the hegemony, which makes of Mexico a very centralized unit around the valleys of Mexico.