Teotihuacan Research Paper

To what extent have science and archaeology changed our understanding of Teotihuacan?

Teotihuacan is a city which often has many unanswered questions which historians simply don’t have the answer to, however, science and archaeology have assisted the understanding of Teotihuacan extensively. The mapping project which has deepened out understanding of Teotihuacan through showing the layout of the Teotihuacan, but mainly showing housing in reference to social order and societal structure. Science, in particular, the use of radiocarbon dating has been used to determine the age of skeletons in Teotihuacan, in the pyramid of the moon, which has changed our understanding of human sacrifice, discovering that many sacrificed victims were in the city

for many years. Through the mapping project of Teotihuacan, we can understand housing and the social order and societal structure within Teotihuacan due to the mapping project by René millon. The understanding of agriculture within Teotihuacan has also been furthered due to stratigraphic studies. Our understanding of Religion has changed due to a higher understanding of Olmec’s and the Aztec transition. The mapping project of Teotihuacan has been crucial in developing our understanding of Teotihuacan. René millon’s mapping project was constructed in 1964, with detailed mapping with extensive photogrammetry and ground surveying. They mapping project identifies key features, such as the avenue dead, pyramid of the sun, pyramid of the moon, and apartment complexes within the Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan. Importantly in the city of Teotihuacan, apartments are located near the pyramid of the moon, which suggests that people of high importance would live here. Whilst there is no concrete evidence, the evidence does suggest that occupants of the housing could have been an elite member of society. The evidence is present in the design of the housing, with more sophisticated, colourful paintings containing different characteristics of murals at the time. The reasons and characteristics of these different housing designs compared to areas further away from Teotihuacan, could be due to nobility and elites living close to the Pyramid of the moon. This helps us identify that there is a possibility of an unclear societal structure, with Religious leaders being at the top and governing Teotihuacan. The housing near the pyramid of the moon thoroughly indicates that there was some social order within society, at least Identifying a top of society and a bottom. With the given information, we’ve learnt important information from Archaeology, with Millon Identifying and playing a role in determining the social order. In 1964, the success of the mapping project revealed a great deal of knowledge, which has been essential in providing more information about the Ancient civilisation. The knowledge of the societal structure of Teotihuacan has been furthered immensely, considering the many factors that have been undertaking since 1964. The mapping project has been significant in assisting the extent at which Archaeology, in particular, as assisted our understanding of Teotihuacan. Without the mapping project, our understanding of Teotihuacan would be limited due to knowing other viable sources other than satellite images to assist in the layout of city planning and being able to identify housing placement without the city, and other areas. Overall, our understanding of Teotihuacan has been furthered extensively specifically with archaeology, and the mapping project, allowing more education of the societal structure and order, as well as why different buildings were designed differently.The understanding of Religion has been furthered due to many different factors. The first known inhabitants of the Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan was the Olmec Empire. The Olmec’s are considered to be the oldest Ancient civilisation and the first known inhabitants of Teotihuacan. Throughout time there were more inhabitants, however, as represented at the end of the Aztec empire the variation that was present in Teotihuacan differed greatly. Olmec religion is different to the Aztec religion, and they both differ in visual representation.

For example, the Olmec jadeite mask is representative of the Olmec religion, as this differed greatly compared to the Aztecs. The Olmec’s had more statues to represent their religion compared to the Aztecs with a basis of murals which is more present in the Aztec era, as Teotihuacan was incorporated into the Aztecs practises of their own religion. In particular, with the Olmec jadeite mask, it represents the change of beliefs in a matter of centuries, when being compared to the Aztec religion, changing the central belief system of the civilians in Teotihuacan. The comparison between Teotihuacan and the religions that are based within the architectural design of Teotihuacan are crucial in extending our understanding of Teotihuacan through Science mainly, in the research of chronology, we have learnt to be able to distinguish different architectural features with the city of Teotihuacan. This has been important in identifying different features within the city and being able to use different types of archaeology to identify when something in the time period was made. For example, the use of

typology would be very useful in discovering more about the Ancient city of Teotihuacan. Overall, our understanding of religion has been further deepened by the use of Chronology, in comparing the Olmec empire and their representative forms of art, particularly statues, as well as the different ways the Aztecs represented their religion in the use of a more mural based system.Knowledge of Human sacrifice within the city of Teotihuacan has been further comprehensively in the last 20 years. Human sacrifice can directly link with the Teotihuacan and the interaction that may have been in present at the time. For example, a man in Teotihuacan was buried alive, along with 200 other people and was seen as a sacrifice. The evidence within his teeth suggest that the man was present in Teotihuacan for some time, however, other evidence suggests that the man could have been born as far as Guatemala. The other victims have similar evidence to the man that is examined (Bankston 2011). This shows the height of Teotihuacan, drawing in other Mesoamericans from the continent to the great city of Teotihuacan. With Teotihuacan having a high presence of people coming across the globe in order to live and be connected with others, Teotihuacan clearly caters to this idea of an urban existence. This suggests that People who visited with Teotihuacan may have had more connections to other cities such as Tula, Hidalgo etc. With this, it Identifies that the Ideas of Human sacrificed would have been communicated amongst these cities, meaning that some Mesoamericans could have possibly made a “Pilgrimage” to the city of Teotihuacan, as it is also known as “The city of the Gods”.

This idea would have been universal across Mesoamerican civilisations, and with the Aztec civilisation being known for the forms of Human sacrifice, the civilisations such as the Olmec may have left a cultural and religious impact on Teotihuacan. All of this evidence suggests that the use of Radiocarbon dating (Within identifying the human sacrifice) as helped suggest evidence of migration within Teotihuacan. Indirectly, the use of radiocarbon dating has helped identify through science, more about the state of Teotihuacan and the how Teotihuacan interacts with different civilisations. Overall, our knowledge of human sacrifice has been improved dramatically due to radiocarbon dating being used in order to help identify different ancient city origins, of those who have been sacrificed.Our understanding of Agriculture in Teotihuacan has been vital in understanding Teotihuacan. The Geographical landscape of Teotihuacan, and where it is situated, in a highly fertile area creates great crop growth, jobs, and improves the economy a great deal. In the specific use of chinampas, and stratigraphy studies. Chinampas is a

sophisticated irrigation system that is used specifically within Mesoamerican cultures. Chinampas and its effects are even greater in Teotihuacan. Vegetables are grown such as Beans, Avocado, peppers and squash. Chinampas involved something similar to Ancient Egypt, with Plots approximately about 30 M by 2.5 M. Chinampas has greatly assisted with our understanding of Agriculture within the area, as the use of chinampas has been shown with great effect, and use of land within the fertile valley of Mexico. This is significant in improving our understanding of agriculture because, without a Solid base understanding of chinampas, our understanding of the way Teotihuacan works will be limited and basic. Our understanding of Teotihuacan is furthered extensively due to having an extensive understanding of Agriculture, and the significance it has in Archaeology.Overall, the extent at which science and archaeology have assisted our understanding has been extensive, due to multiple factors such as Social order, Religion, Human sacrifice and Agriculture, all of extensively assisted in the ways which science and archaeology have assisted the knowledge of Teotihuacan.