Teotihuacan

Today we visited Teotihuacan - an enormous archaeological site about 50 Km north of Mexico City. To get there we went through areas of slum dwelling but each house had a satellite dish; the volume of traffic was also amazingly high – no wonder the city gets smog bound in the heat. Teotihuacan contains some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals.
At its zenith in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. At this time it may have had more than 250,000 inhabitants, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. The name Teōtīhuacān has been translated as "birthplace of the gods". It is believed that it was this huge number of people that led to the city’s demise because they completely deforested the area. The city reached its zenith between 150 and 450 CE, when it was the centre of a powerful culture whose influence extended through much of the Mesoamerican region. At its peak, the city covered over 30 km² (over 11½ square miles). Notably absent from the city are fortifications and military structures.
The religion of Teotihuacan was similar to those of other Mesoamerican cultures. Many of the same gods were worshiped, including the Feathered Serpent (the Aztecs' Quetzalcoatl) and Rain God (the Aztecs' Tlaloc.) Teotihuacanos practiced human sacrifice: human bodies and animal sacrifices have been found during excavations of the pyramids at Teotihuacan. Scholars believe that the people offered human sacrifices as part of a dedication when buildings were expanded or constructed. The victims were probably enemy warriors captured in battle and brought to the city for ritual sacrifice to ensure the city could prosper. Some men were decapitated, some had their hearts removed, others were killed by being hit several times over the head, and some were buried alive. Animals that were considered sacred and represented mythical powers and were imprisoned in cages: cougars, a wolf, eagles, a falcon, an owl, and even venomous snakes.
The city's broad central avenue, called "Avenue of the Dead", is flanked by impressive ceremonial architecture, including the immense Pyramid of the Sun (second largest in the New World after the Great Pyramid of Cholula) and the Pyramid of the Moon. Along the Avenue of the Dead are many smaller talud-tablero platforms. The Aztecs believed they were tombs, inspiring the name of the avenue. Now scholars have established these were ceremonial platforms that were topped with temples. The Pyramid of the Sun is 64m high and 213 sq m at the base – covering almost the same space as the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. The sides are terraced and wide stairs lead to the summit. The Pyramid of the Moon is only about half the size and we had the best views of the whole site by climbing the steep steps to the first level of this pyramid – Gregg’s knees held out for both the ascent and descent!
4km further down the Avenue of the Dead is the area known as the Citadel, containing the ruined Temple of Quetzalcoatl – the Plumed Serpent, Lord Of Air and Wind. Lining the staircase are huge carved heads of the feathered serpents. This area was a large plaza surrounded by temples that formed the religious and political and mercantile centre of the city.