why did the mesoamerican cultures view teotihuacán as a holy site course hero

How did Teotihuacan influence Mesoamerica?

Teotihuacan Influence Artifacts found in the city and sites across Mexico suggest Teotihuacan was a wealthy trade metropolis in its prime. In particular, the city exported fine obsidian tools, including spear and dart heads. Teotihuacan had a monopoly on obsidian trade—the most important deposit in Mesoamerica was located near the city.

What is the significance of Teotihuacan?

Teotihuacán, in the Valley of Mexico, was an urban centre of some 150,000 people, and the influence of its civilization eventually radiated over much of Mesoamerica. As such, Teotihuacán constituted a second grand civilizational climax….

Who built Teotihuacan and why?

Very little is known of the people who built Teotihuacan, and as a result much of our knowledge of the site, its art, and Teotihuacan culture is derived from Aztec sources. Largely created before 250 C.E., Teotihuacan is a testament to the ambition of its people, who built the first American city on a grid plan.

When did Teotihuacan become the most important city in Mexico?

After the rise of complex societies in the Valley of Mexico, by about 200 CE one emerged supreme. Teotihuacán was founded about 100 BCE, but by about 300-700 CE it had grown to become one of the world’s preeminent cities in size and culture.

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Why did Teotihuacan become so important to Mesoamerican societies?

Artifacts found in the city and sites across Mexico suggest Teotihuacan was a wealthy trade metropolis in its prime. In particular, the city exported fine obsidian tools, including spear and dart heads. Teotihuacan had a monopoly on obsidian trade—the most important deposit in Mesoamerica was located near the city.

What is the significance of Teotihuacan?

Teotihuacan is known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas, namely Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon.

What makes Teotihuacan unique?

Teotihuacan is unique because it is different from other ancient Mesoamerican cities. It had a multi-ethnic society where people worshipped many gods, was world's largest exporter of obsidian tools, and grew to be one of the most powerful cities in its heyday.

How did Teotihuacan influence Maya?

Even before most Maya sites had been established, Teotihuacan had established itself as a dynamic cultural center. Material culture, including architecture, ceramics, art, hieroglyphics inscriptions, and other artifacts found at Early Classic Maya sites, clearly reveals a connection between Teotihuacan and the Maya.

Who did the Aztecs believe Teotihuacan?

Teotihuacan became an important city to the Aztecs. The Aztecs believed that the Toltecs built the city (its now believed that the city predates the Toltec civilization). The Aztecs claimed that the current age was created from Teotihuacan, and so named the two great temples after the sun and moon.

What significant change occurred at Teotihuacan?

What significant change occurred at Teotihuacán? It underwent monumental expansion into a genuine city. Teotihuacán as well as its key pyramids are carefully oriented.

What did the Aztecs think of Teotihuacan?

Teotihuacan cast a long cultural shadow through history and, 1,000 years after its peak, the last great Pre-Columbian civilization, the Aztecs, revered the city as the origin of civilization. They believed Teotihuacan was where the gods had created the present era, including the fifth and present sun.

What did the Teotihuacan worship?

Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl are among the most important deities in Teotihuacán. Huehueteotl, the Old God, who was responsible for fire and was worshipped primarily in the private sphere.

What are the main architectural features of Teotihuacan?

The most important feature of Teotihuacan architecture is its scale. For instance, the Sun Pyramid is one of the largest structures ever built in the ancient world. Until the advent of the skyscraper in the 19th century, it was one of the tallest buildings in the Western Hemisphere.

Was Teotihuacan Mayan or Aztec?

The Mayan city in today's Mexico has mysterious origins. It was massive, one of the first great cities of the Western Hemisphere.

What best describes the city of Teotihuacan?

What best describes the city of Teotihuacan? The place of Gods, it's Pyramid of the Sun rivalved the pyramids of Egypt, and the city's architects are unknown.

Did the Mayans live in Teotihuacan?

Teotihuacan was first occupied in 100 BC and grew to be one of the largest cities in the entire world before its collapse in AD 650. The new findings from this ancient city shed important light on the complex relationship that the people of Teotihuacan held with their Central American neighbors, the Maya.

What was the importance of Tenochtitlan?

In less than 200 years, it evolved from a small settlement on an island in the western swamps of Lake Texcoco into the powerful political, economic, and religious center of the greatest empire of Precolumbian Mexico. Tenochtitlan was a city of great wealth, obtained through the spoils of tribute from conquered regions.

What is the legacy of Teotihuacan?

The Legacy of Teotihuacan Aspects of Teotihuacan's religion, monumental architecture, urban planning, and various features of the city's art would influence both contemporary and subsequent civilizations across Mesoamerica, including the Zapotecs, Maya, Toltecs, and Aztecs.

What best describes the city of Teotihuacan?

What best describes the city of Teotihuacan? The place of Gods, it's Pyramid of the Sun rivalved the pyramids of Egypt, and the city's architects are unknown.

What was Teotihuacan quizlet?

What is Teotihuacan? Teotihuacan arose as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland, around the time of Christ.

What were the Teotihuacanos' influences?

The origin and language of the Teotihuacanos are yet unknown. Their cultural influences spread throughout Mesoamerica, and the city carried on trade with distant regions. Perhaps two-thirds of the urban population were involved in farming the surrounding fields. Others worked with ceramics or obsidian, a volcanic glass that was used for weapons, tools, and ornamentation. The city also had large numbers of merchants, many of whom had immigrated there from great distances. The priest-rulers who governed the city also staged grand religious pageants and ceremonies that often involved human sacrifices.

What did the priest-rulers do in the ruined city?

The priest-rulers who governed the city also staged grand religious pageants and ceremonies that often involved human sacrifices. 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.

What was discovered in the 1970s?

In the early 1970s exploration below the pyramid revealed a system of cave and tunnel chambers. Over subsequent years other tunnels were revealed throughout the city, and it was suggested that much of the building stone of Teotihuacán was mined there. Teotihuacán: Pyramid of the Sun.

When was the Citadel discovered?

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.

What are the threats to the greater area of ruins?

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. Many neighbourhoods excavated in the late 20th century had been earlier cultivated by farmers. See also pre-Columbian civilizations: Teotihuacán.

What is the history of Mesoamerica?

history of. Mesoamerica. In pre-Columbian civilizations. …making, and mathematics, while the Teotihuacán civilization placed its emphasis on political and commercial power. Teotihuacán, in the Valley of Mexico, was an urban centre of some 150,000 people, and the influence of its civilization eventually radiated over much of Mesoamerica.

Where was the Cuicuilco Ticomán culture?

In pre-Columbian civilizations: Valley of Mexico. In the Valley of Teotihuacán, a kind of side pocket on the northeastern margin of the Valley of Mexico, Cuicuilco-Ticomán culture eventually took on a remarkable outline, for there is evidence that by the beginning of the Common Era a great city had been planned. There is little doubt….

Who is the rain god in Quetzalcóatl?

At that time Quetzalcóatl seems to have been conceived as a vegetation god—an earth and water deity closely associated with the rain god Tlaloc. Read More. Tla loc.

When did Tikal reach its peak?

Tikal continued to flourish after the decline of Teotihuacán and probably extended its hegemony over a large part of the southern lowlands in the Late Classic Period. Between 600 and 800, Tikal reached its architectural and artistic peak, after…. Read More.

What is Teotihuacan's figurative art?

Considering the cosmopolitan nature of the city, it had been thought that Teotihuacan’s figurative art was not portraiture, but rather generic representations that sought to unify a diverse population.

What is the axis of the city of Teotihuacan?

The city of Teotihuacan is aligned, like other Mesoamerican cities such as La Venta, on a north-south axis. This alignment is made explicit by the central artery, known as the Avenue of the Dead, which extends more than 1.5 miles across the city. Entering the city from the south, the Avenue of the Dead leads visitors to the city’s three main architectural monuments, the Ciudadela, a sunken plaza at the southernmost tip that contained temples, including the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (above), the Pyramid of the Sun further down the avenue (below), and the Pyramid of the Moon (top of page) located at the northernmost point. In the distance and behind the Pyramid of the Moon, visitors can also catch a glimpse of the impressive Cerro Gordo, an extinct volcano that frames the pyramid and demonstrates the harmonious relationship between architecture and natural topography. Running perpendicular to the Avenue of the Dead another street follows the San Juan River. These axes help to define the grid of intersecting horizontal and vertical corridors that structure and organize the city plan. The urban grid helped to establish order for religious, domestic, and commercial complexes and a structural coherence that supported the management of the city and its population. Thousands of apartment complexes also reflect the ordered planning of the site.

What is the mural of Teotihuacan?

For example on the walls of the apartment complex in the Tepantitla district, we find an elaborate mural showing a figure often identified as the Great Goddess and more recently as a mountain-tree. The female figure stands frontally while a blossoming tree with butterflies and spiders emerges from her head (potentially a reference to the heavenly realm), while her feet remain attached to the underworld. The inverted u-shape found below the mountain-tree may function as a symbolic womb, similar to the cave found at the Pyramid of the Sun.

Where is the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl?

Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent), Teōtīhuacān. The Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent occupies a prominent place in the Ciudadela, a large open space that offers a respite from the massive presence of the Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon.

When was Teotihuacan built?

Largely created before 250 C.E., Teotihuacan is a testament to the ambition of its people, who built the first American city on a grid plan. Pyramid of the Moon seen from the Avenue of the Dead with Cerro Gordo in the distance, Teotihuacan, Mexico.

Where is the mural from Tepantitla?

Reconstruction of mural from Tepantitla in Teotihuacan in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Reconstruction of mural from Tepantitla in Teotihuacan in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

What volcano frames the pyramid of the moon?

In the distance and behind the Pyramid of the Moon, visitors can also catch a glimpse of the impressive Cerro Gordo, an extinct volcano that frames the pyramid and demonstrates the harmonious relationship between architecture and natural topography.

What is the significance of the figurines in Mesoamerica?

These faces of Mesoamerica dramatically illustrate the variety of features, hair, jewelry and other adornment among many diverse cultural traditions.

Where did Mesoamerican civilizations develop?

Ultimately, complex, stratified urban societies developed in various regions of Mesoamerica, including Central Mexico, West Mexico, the Gulf Coast, Oaxaca, and the Maya area. Each made distinctive contributions to Mesoamerican civilization, and to the heritage of all humankind.

What was the first agricultural revolution in Mexico?

One of the great agricultural revolutions in human history took place in the valleys and river drainages of central Mexico, beginning in the 7th millennium BCE. By 1500 BCE village life based on agricultural food production spread in the Valley of Mexico and communities began to grow. Sites such as Tlatilco in the west and Tlapacoya in the east yielded a great variety of ceramic forms and figurines. Artisans decorated bowls, jars, bottles and other forms with incised and sculpted naturalistic forms such as birds, fish and mammals. In this Formative Period artisans produced thousands of small figurines made of clay with applique decoration. After about 1200 BCE, strong Olmec influence from the Veracruz-Tabasco area is prevalent in the Middle Formative of Central Mexico.#N#After the rise of complex societies in the Valley of Mexico, by about 200 CE one emerged supreme. Teotihuacán was founded about 100 BCE, but by about 300-700 CE it had grown to become one of the world’s preeminent cities in size and culture. Teotihuacán was arranged along the mile-long Avenue of the Dead, at the north end of which stands the Pyramid of the Moon and on the east the massive Pyramid of the Sun. To the south was the Ciudadela, within which is the Temple of Quetzalcoatl with its facades of alternating feathered serpents and rain gods. Beyond the city’s monumental axis sprawled the neighborhoods of Teotihuacán, with areas of craft specialization and homes of elites with beautifully painted murals. At its height about 600 CE, Teotihuacán, with a population of up to 150,000, might have been the largest city in the world. Its influence extended broadly across Mesoamerica. Following the fall of Teotihuacán about 750, subsequent civilizations in the Valley of Mexico included the Toltec at Tula, Hidalgo, ca. 900-1200, and the Aztecs, 1325-1520, at Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City.

What are the foods that Mesoamerica was built on?

It is one of the regions of the world where the agricultural revolution arose independently, and the great civilizations of Mesoamerica were built upon foods such as maize, beans and squash.

What were the two civilizations that ruled Mexico?

Following the fall of Teotihuacán about 750, subsequent civilizations in the Valley of Mexico included the Toltec at Tula, Hidalgo, ca. 900-1200, and the Aztecs, 1325-1520, at Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City. Incensario.

What are the most common artifacts in the Americas?

Perhaps the most ubiquitous artifact in the Americas is the figurine. Made of ceramic, stone and wood, these fascinating sculptures represent both real and mythological people and animals. From about 1500 BCE onwards, figurines are found individually and in sets, laid out to represent scenes of daily life.

Where did the Olmec civilizations originate?

Following the collapse of the Olmec, high civilizations influenced by the Olmec arose in other areas of Mesoamerica, such as Teotihuacán in central Mexico, Monte Albán in Oaxaca and Tikal and numerous other locations in the Maya area.