The Valley of Mexico

ANTH 221: Peoples and Cultures of MexicoKimberly Martin, Ph.D.

MesoAmerican Timeline

Pre-Classic 1500 BCE – 250 BCE

• Chalcatzingo 1500 – 500 BCE

• Tlatilco (Cuicuilco) 1200 – 200 BCE

Chalcatzingo 1500-500 BCE

• Southern end of the Valley of Mexico• Population of 500-1000 individuals• Trade Center• Residences of several classes• Burials under residences• Central plaza with an Olmec style altar• Platform structures• Bas relief carvings

Water Dancing Group Carvings

Water Dancing Group

Carving Detail

Tlatilco 1200 BCE – 200 BCE

• Complex settlement patterns• Economic specialization• Stratification• Long distance trade• Pottery vessels and figurines• Burials

Tlatilco CultureCuicuilco Site, Valley of Mexico

South Side Cuicuilco Pyramid

Tlatilco Archaeology Sites: Burial Goods

Tlatilco Archaeology Sites: Burials

Deformed SkullCultural standard of beauty obtained by wrapping infant skulls to shape their growth.

Tlatilco Archaeology Sites: Body with

Burial Goods

Tlatilco Ceramics

Monument 1

El ReyWoman seated

inside cave (God’s

Mouth) with rain clouds

and rain

Chalcatzingo Stela 31:

Feline figure, human figure,

S cloud formation and

raindrops

Classic 250 BCE – 900 CE

• Teotihuacan• Cholula

Teotihuacan

– 125,000-200,000 population– 8 square miles (20 square kilometers)– Planned city laid out in a grid pattern– Monumental architecture in “talud-tablero” style– 15 degrees, 25 minutes east of north– N/S Avenue of the Dead – 4 miles (6.4 kilometers)– Bisected by E/W Avenue of same length– Northern arm runs from the

• Pyramid of the Moon PAST THE • Pyramid of the sun TO THE• Ciudadela and Quetzalcoatl Pyramid, THE HALF WAY

MARK OF AVENUE OF THE DEAD

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan (Museum Model)

Teotihuacan Talud-Tablero Style

Pyramid of the Sun

• 700 ft (215 m) long• 200 ft (60 m) high• Two layers of construction• Fill =41,000,000 cu ft of sun dried

brick• Built over a lava tube cave– 330 ft long, 20 ft deep– Stone channels for water run into the

cave

TeotihuacanFrom the Pyramid of the Moon

Pyramid of the Moon

• Six layers of construction• Three ritual offerings in the

foundation– One human victim– Felines– Eagles– Obsidian carvings– Greenstone carvings

Teotihuacan from Pyramid of the Moon

Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl• Smaller than the other two pyramids• Last monumental architecture constructed in 200

AD• Seven tiered talud-tablero structure located within

the Ciudadela• Tableros covered with two opposing feathered

serpent motifs– Mosaic headresses of warriors– Shells suggesting water context– Two serpents may be creation story

• Life, greenness, peace VS heat, desert, war in a primordial sea

• Built in a single stage• 200 human sacrificial victims buried within

Teotihuacan Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl

Teotihuacan

TeotihuacanHuman Sacrifice

• Two groups of eighteen young warriors with hands tied behind backs buried at north and south

• Near N/S burial pits smaller number of young women

• More warriors at E/W edges of pyramid• Four corners each had the burial of an other warrior

individual• In the center of the pyramid, 20 victims buried with

thousands of jade, shell and other types of artifacts• Using calendar numbers of 18 (months) and 20

(number of days in a calendar month) • Using the N/S/E/W directions related to the

Mesoamerican world view of reality

Teotihuacan

Xochicalco

• 650 AD• Step-pyramid temples• Palaces• Three ballcourts• Sweat-baths• Circular altars• A cave with observatory features• Free-standing sculptured stelae

Xochicalco

Xochicalco Ball Court

Xochicalco Feathered Serpent Temple

Observatory Cave

Xochicalco Stelae

Cholula

• 600 CE to Conquest• Cholula Pyramid – Largest monument by volume in the

world– 4.45 million cubic meters in volume– 450m x 450 m

• Excavated into the side of the pyramid

Cholula Museum Model

Cholula Pyramid with Church

Cholula Pyramid Interior

Staircase

Post Classic 900 CE – 1519 CE

• Tula• Tzintzuntzan• Tenochtitlan

Tula• 800CE – 1150 CE• Tolteca Chichimeca peoples led by Mixcoatl• Tribal peoples from the northwest• Conflict between

– Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, peaceful, against human sacrifice (Mixcoatl’s son)

– Tezcatlipoca, fierce warrior god, lord of sorcerers– Quetzalcoatl flees the city, journeys to the gulf coast and sets

sail to the east from which he was to return some day.– He may have gone to Yucatan, where Maya records report the

arrival of Kukulcan (Feathered Serpent) who conquered Chichen Itza

– Tezcatlipoca ruled Tula

• Traders from as far away as Nicaragua• Fine craftsmen• Warrior Statues “Atlantes”• Chac Mool Statues (meaning unknown)

Tula Pyramid B

Atlantes on Pyramid B

Tula Chac Mool

Mosaic Helmet

Tzintzuntzan

• 1000CE – Conquest• Overlooks Lake Patzcuaro• P’urepechua language is not related to any other

mesoamerican language• Language is closer to Zuni in southwestern U.S.

and Quechua in Peru• Power extended throughout Michoacán and parts

of modern Guanajuato, Guerrero and Jalisco states• Ceremonial center with plaza on a Grand Platform• Five round “yacata” pyramid structures

Tzintzuntzan Aerial View

Tzintzuntzan Yacatas

Tzintzuntzan Yacatas

Stirrup Necked Vessels