What Indians lived in Teotihuacan?
No matter its principal builders, evidence shows that Teotihuacan hosted a patchwork of cultures including the Maya, Mixtec, and Zapotec. One theory says an erupting volcano forced a wave of immigrants into the Teotihuacan valley and that those refugees either built or bolstered the city.
What was most significant about the history of Teotihuacan?
Teotihuacan is known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas. It became the largest and most populated center in the pre-Columbian Americas.
What is the importance of Teotihuacan?
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 legend of Teotihuacan?
According to an Aztec legend, the world was created and destroyed four times before the creation of our current world. Each time the world was destroyed, the sun quickly perished alongside it, and a new sun, presided by a god, was required to create another world.
How long is the Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan?
The main road down the center of the city is called the Avenue of the Dead by the Aztecs because the mounds on the sides looked like tombs. The Avenue was large at 131 feet (40 meters) wide and 3 miles (5 km) in length and ran north and south in direction.
Why is Teotihuacan called the city of mystery?
Teotihuacan is referred to as the city of mystery because very little is known about the site; its exact origins are still a mystery.
How did Teotihuacan expand?
In keeping with the stratified nature of other Mesoamerican societies, Teotihuacan also benefitted from rulers, or a ruling elite, who commissioned massive architectural landmarks such as the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, and who spread Teotihuacan’s sphere of influence throughout Mesoamerica—even into the Maya region …
What is the typical style of Teotihuacan art?
– Their flat, angular, abstract style, typical of Teotihuacan art, is inmarked contrast to the curvilinear, organic forms of Olmec art. – It functions more like a mesopotamian ziggurat. – The temples on top were for human sacrifices for their gods.
What are the main architectural features of Teotihuacán?
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 …