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Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan , also written Teotihuacán , was an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, located in the State of Mexico northeast of modern-day Mexico City, known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas.

At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more, making it at least the sixth largest city in the world during its epoch.

Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds; the Avenue of the Dead; and the small portion of its vibrant murals that have been exceptionally well-preserved. Additionally, Teotihuacan exported fine obsidian tools that garnered high prestige and widespread utilization throughout Mesoamerica.

The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC, with major monuments continuously under construction until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around 550 AD.

Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highlands around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The term Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacano) is also used for the whole civilization and cultural complex associated with the site.

Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented; evidence of Teotihuacano presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region. The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and claimed a common ancestry with the Teotihuacanos, modifying and adopting aspects of their culture. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups. Scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state.

The city and the archaeological site are located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, approximately of Mexico City. The site covers a total surface area of and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico.

Teotihuacán (municipality)

Teotihuacán is a town and municipality located in the State of Mexico. It is in the northeast of the Valley of Mexico, 45 km northeast of Mexico City and 119 km from the state capital of Toluca. Teotihuacan takes its name from the ancient city and World Heritage site that is located next to the municipal seat. "Teotihuacan" is from Nahuatl and means "place of the gods." In Nahua mythology the sun and the moon were created here. The seal of the municipality features the Pyramid of the Sun from the archeological site, which represents the four cardinal directions. The building is tied to a character that represents water which is linked to an arm that is joined to the head of an indigenous person who is seated and speaking. This person represents a god. Much of the history of the area has been tied to the ancient city, most recently involves controversy connected with commerce and development around the site.

Usage examples of "teotihuacan".

In other words it was a collective project, created by an inter-generational labour force drawn from the many different cultures, Olmec, Teotihuacan, Toltec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Cholulan and Aztec, that had passed through Cholula since the dawn of civilization in Mexico.

The most ancient pyramids in Mexico are at Teotihuacan, eight leagues from the city of Mexico.

For example, in the frieze of the great Aztec pyramids at San Juan Teotihuacan, outside Mexico City, there is a repeated figure, described as a rain god, but looking for all the world like an amphibious tracked vehicle with four headlights (see page 201).

Among this latter category must be included the thick and extensive layer of sheet mica found sandwiched between two of the upper levels of the Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Sun when it was being probed for restoration in 1906.