Teotihuacan is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the
Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, 40 kilometers (25
mi) northeast of modern-day Mexico City.
Teotihuacan is known today as the site of many of the most architecturally
significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas, namely
the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.
At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the first millennium (1 CE to 500
CE), Teotihuacan was the largest city in the Americas, considered as the first
advanced civilization on the North American continent, with a population
estimated at 125,000 or more, making it at least the sixth-largest city in the
world during its epoch.
|
Entrance to the south area of Teotihuacan.
The Ciudadela with the Temple of the Feathered Serpent
Quetzalcoatl are placed at the south end of the Avenue of the Dead.
|
|
West entrance.
Shops with souvenirs for tourists are an unavoidable presence.
|
|
Teotihuacan map.
On this map north is at the top and south is at the bottom.
|
|
Heading to the Citadel.
The Citadel complex, with the temple of Quetzalcóatl, can be seen in the
distance.
|
|
Avenue of the Dead.
The main monuments of the city of Teotihuacan are connected to each
other by a central road of 45 meters wide and a length of 2 kilometers,
called "Avenue of the Dead " (Avenida de Los Muertos), because it
is believed to have been paved with tombs.
|
|
Avenue of the Dead.
Based on the quality of construction materials and sizes of rooms as
well as the quality of assorted objects found in the residency,
dwellings radiating outward from the Central district and along the
Avenue of the Dead might have been occupied by higher status
individuals.
|
|
Walking towards the Citadel.
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. This area was a large plaza surrounded by temples
that formed the religious and political center of the city. The name
"Citadel" was given to it by the Spanish, who believed it was a fort.
|
|
Inside the Citadel.
The Citadel is a great enclosed plaza capable of holding 100,000 people.
About 700,000 cubic meters (yards) of material were used to construct
its buildings. Its central feature is the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, which
was flanked by upper-class apartments.
|
|
North side of the Citadel.
The Pyramid of the Sun can be seen in the background.
|
|
Walking towards the Temple of Quetzalcoatl.
First we have to climb this staircase so that from the top we can see
the Temple of Quetzalcoatl.
|
|
Adosada platform.
Today the pyramid is largely hidden by the Adosada platform hinting at a
political restructuring of Teotihuacan during the fourth century CE,
perhaps a "rejection of autocratic rule" in favour of a collective
leadership.
|
|
Temple of Quetzalcoatl.
Now, at the top of the platform, we can finally see the Temple of
Quetzalcoatl. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent is the third largest
pyramid at Teotihuacan, a pre-Columbian site in central Mexico (the term
Teotihuacan, or Teotihuacano, is also used for the whole civilization
and cultural complex associated with the site).
-
This structure is notable partly due to the discovery in the 1980s of
more than a hundred possibly sacrificial victims found buried beneath
the structure. The burials, like the structure, are dated to between
150 and 200 CE.
-
The pyramid takes its name from representations of the Mesoamerican
"feathered serpent" deity which covered its sides. These are some of
the earliest-known representations of the feathered serpent, often
identified with the much-later Aztec god Quetzalcoatl.
|
|
Temple of Quetzalcoatl.
The Feathered Serpent Pyramid is a six-level step pyramid built in the
talud-tablero style. The outside edges of each level are decorated with
feathered serpent heads alternating with those of another snake-like
creature, often identified as Tlaloc.
-
In antiquity the entire pyramid was painted – the background here was
blue with carved sea shells providing decoration.
-
Under each row of heads are bas-reliefs of the full feathered serpent,
in profile, also associated with water symbols. These and other
designs and architectural elements are more than merely decorative,
suggesting "strong ideological significance".
-
See more at
Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan - Wikipedia.
|
|
View from the Adosada platform to the north.
In the distance you can see the Pyramid of the Sun (top right) and the
Pyramid of the Moon (top left).
-
Further away, you can see the mountain Cerro Gordo in line with the
pyramids and the Avenue of the Dead.
-
The Pyramid of the Moon is found in the northwestern part of the
ancient city of Teotihuacan and mimics the contours of the mountain
Cerro Gordo, just north of the site. Cerro Gordo may have been called
Tenan, which in Nahuatl, means "mother or protective stone".
|
|
View from the Adosada platform to the west.
In the background is the entrance to the Citadel.
|
|
Descending the Adosada platform.
The descent from the Adosada platform is as difficult as the ascent.
|
|
Walking towards the Citadel exit.
|
|
Local painter with cochineal.
Inside the Citadel, a local painter shows us a cochineal crop.
-
The cochineal is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from
which the natural dye carmine is derived.
-
See more at
Cochineal - Wikipedia.
-
It was used by the Aztec and Maya peoples. Moctezuma in the 15th
century collected tribute in the form of bags of cochineal dye.
|
|
Cochineal on cacti.
A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South
America through North America (Mexico and the Southwest United States),
this insect lives on cacti in the genus Opuntia, feeding on plant
moisture and nutrients.
-
The insects are found on the pads of prickly pear cacti, collected by
brushing them off the plants, and dried.
|
|
Crushing a cochineal.
To produce dye from cochineals, the insects are collected when they are
around 90 days old. Harvesting the insects is labour-intensive, as they
must be individually knocked, brushed, or picked from the cacti and
placed into bags.
|
|
Natural dye carmine.
Carmine dye was used in the Americas for coloring fabrics and became an
important export good in the 16th century during the colonial period.
- Production of cochineal is depicted in the Codex Osuna (1565).
-
After synthetic pigments and dyes such as alizarin were invented in
the late 19th century, use of natural-dye products gradually
diminished.
-
Fears over the safety of artificial food additives renewed the
popularity of cochineal dyes, and the increased demand has made
cultivation of the insect profitable again, with Peru being the
largest producer, followed by Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the Canary
Islands.
|
|
Getting other colors with natural products.
Red-yellow betalains, green chlorophylls, red-purple anthocyanins, and
yellow-orange carotenoids are the most common pigments found in
vegetables and fruits.
|
See also
Sources
Location
