This online symposium gathers some of the most renown scientists that investigate Teotihuacan and the Maya area. The schedule is:
Sunday, February 13, 2022
18:00-19:00 (CT) Oswaldo Chincilla— NUEVAS PREGUNTAS SOBRE LA INTERACCIÓN ENTRE ESCUINTLA Y TEOTIHUACÁN
19:00-20:00 (CT) Bárbara Arroyo— LAS RELACIONES A LARGA DISTANCIA ENTRE TEOTIHUACAN Y EL ALTIPLANO MAYA
20:15-21:15 (CT) Edwin Román— NUEVOS APORTES Y PERSPECTIVAS AL ESTUDIO DE LA INTERACCIÓN ENTRE TIKAL Y TEOTIHUACÁN
21:15-22:15 (CT) Karl Taube— EL PETÉN, LA CULTURA MAYA Y TEOTIHUACÁN
Monday, February 14, 2022
18;00-19:00 (CT) Saburo Sugiyama— EL GOBIERNO TEOTIHUACANO INTERACTUANDO CON LAS ÉLITES MAYAS: UNA VISTA DESDE LAS ENTRAÑAS DE LA CIUDAD DE TEOTIHUACAN
19:00-20:00 (CT) Linda R. Manzanilla— LOS DINÁMICOS CENTROS DE BARRIO MULTIÉTNICOS DE TEOTIHUACAN: ORGANIZACIONES EXCLUYENTES EN UN ENTORNO CORPORATIVO
Teotihuacan was one of the most influential cities in Mesoamerica, and descriptions of its grandeur during its occupation from around 100 BCE to 550 CE have been frequently mentioned in literature. At its height, the metropolis had between 75,000 to 125,000 inhabitants and extended over an area of some 20 km2 (7.72 mi2). The biggest building in the city, the Sun Pyramid, stands at 63 m (206.69 ft) tall with each of the four sides of its base measuring 222 m (730.64 ft).
So, why all these numbers and figures? Well, get ready because the point to this blog entry is to break down these numbers and compare them with other cities, monuments, and areas around the world so you can have a better understanding of (and appreciation for) the impressive dimensions of the Teotihuacan metropolis.
Years of occupation: 100 BCE-550 CE
Fact: Learning about history is much more interesting than memorizing dates. However, dates are useful for understanding the relative timeframe between which certain events occurred. Teotihuacan was occupied thousands of years ago for centuries. How long ago was that? What was happening in other parts of the world at that time?
The city of Teotihuacan lasted a duration for about 650 years. If we are living in 2021 (21st century), the year 1371 (14th century) was 650 years ago. The Black Death hit Europe, and Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy during that century. If you think about how much time has passed and how the world has been transformed since then, you will understand that 650 years was a long time, indeed.
According to the chart below, which summarizes the estimated dates for the ceramic phases of Teotihuacan (Cowgill 2015), the city was seemingly occupied from the Patlachique to the Late Xolalpan phases with its collapse beginning around 550 CE (Manzanilla 2018:213-215). If you want to learn more about ceramics and chronology, visit the Relative Chronology section.
Phase
Time period
Patlachique
100-1 BCE
Tzacualli
1-100 CE
Miccaotli
100-170 CE
Early Tlamimilolpa
170-250 CE
Late Tlamimilolpa
250-350 CE
Early Xolalpan
350-450 CE
Late Xolalpan
450-550 CE
Metepec
550-650 CE
What about Europe? What was going on during that period? The rise of Teotihuacan (Patlachique phase) roughly corresponds with the beginning of the Roman Empire, spanning between 27 BC and 476 CE (Britannica 2021). By the time we reached the 6th century when Teotihuacan was abandoned, the Early Middle Ages were beginning.
Estimated population: ca. 75,000-125,000 inhabitants
If there were any population records taken back in the day, they were not preserved in Teotihuacan. Therefore, we do not know the exact number of people that lived in the city. Archaeologists have, however, calculated an estimated figure. René Millon (1973:44-45)[1] estimated that there were between 75,000 and 125,000 people in Teotihuacan at its height. Comparatively, in 2017 the city of Bruges in Belgium had 118,284 inhabitants (UrbiStat s.f.). This might seem like a small number compared to the biggest cities at present, but think of it like this: Teotihuacan was the biggest city in the Western Hemisphere (Cowgill 2015:1) and the sixth largest city in the world (Millon 1994:17) (Figure 1).
[1] There are other more recent and less generous calculations (e.g., Cowgill 2015), but Millon’s estimate is used here to be consistent with the map in Figure 1.
The main area the public can visit in Teotihuacan’s archaeological site is the city’s ceremonial center which stretches across an area of 2.4 km2 (0.92 mi2) (INAH 2021) (Figures 2 and 3). To put this number in perspective, the country of Monaco in Western Europe measures 2 km2 (0.77 mi2) (Viajes NG 2021) and New York’s Central Park measures 3.41 km2 (1.31 mi2) (Britannica 2020). Even further, the area that tourists frequent is only a small percentage (around 12%) of the maximum extent of the city (20 km2 or 7.72 mi2) (Millon 1973:xi), which is comparable to the Republic of Nauru (21 km2 or 8.2 mi2), an island country in Micronesia (Viajes NG 2021).
Figure 2. Teotihuacan’s Archaeological Zone (taken from INAH 2021).Figure 3. Photos of Teotihuacan’s archaeological site taken from a hot air balloon: a) northern region including the Moon Pyramid and part of the Plaza of the Columns Complex, b) southern region including the Ciudadela and the Great Compound. The border of the archaeological site is shown in orange with contemporary towns located on top of the ancient city.
Dimensions of the Sun Pyramid
Approximate Height: 63 m (206.69 ft); Base: side length: 222 m (728.34 ft); area: 49,248 m2 (530,101.06 ft2) (Sugiyama 1993:112).
While Teotihuacan’s biggest monument is the Sun Pyramid, we actually do not know its original height because it has suffered many natural and human destruction over the centuries and consequently several reconstructions along the way (admittedly not always completely accurate). In the present day, however, the pyramid measures 63 m (206.69 ft) (Sugiyama 1993:112). In comparison, the Mahabodhi Temple in India (55 m or 180.44 ft) (Britannica 2019) and the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy (56.67 m or 185.92 ft) (Leaning Tower of Pisa 2021) are similar in height.
From these numbers, the Sun Pyramid is still more massive than these two monuments. Each of its sides measures 222 m (728.34 ft) with an area of 49,248 m2 (530,101.06 ft2). Have you ever been to a stadium and thought how small you are in comparison to the total space? Well, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, also known as Millennium Stadium, has a footprint of 40,000 m2 (430,556.42 ft2) (Principality Stadium 2021). A building with a similar area (52,609 m2or 566,278.56 ft2) is the Windsor Castle (Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 2021).
When you think of pyramids, surely the famous Egyptian monuments from the Giza Pyramid Complex come to mind. So, how does the Sun Pyramid compare? The following table breaks down the measurements of each of the Giza Pyramids (Britannica 2021) as compared to the Sun Pyramid (Sugiyama 1993:112).
Building
Height
Base side length
Pyramid of Khufu
147 m (481.4 ft)
230 m (755.75 ft)
Pyramid of Khafre
143 m (471 ft)
216 m (707.75 ft)
Pyramid of Menkaure
66 m (218 ft)
109 m (356.5 ft)
Pyramid of the Sun
63 m (206.69 ft)
222 m (728.34 ft)
As you can see, the Sun Pyramid is similar in height to the Menkaure Pyramid. Although the Kuru and Khafre pyramids are taller than the Sun Pyramid, their bases are comparatively similar in length (Figure 4) and thus in area as well.
Figure 4. Sun Pyramid compared to some of the buildings mentioned in the text (modified from Cmglee 2016 by Yolanda Peláez).
A Magnificent City
With over six centuries of occupation, Teotihuacan supported an impressively large population across an extensive landscape enhanced by monuments of global proportions. The next time you visit the site, think about what these numbers mean in terms of human ingenuity. Without fortitude and strength, a city would cease to exist. For this reason, Teotihuacan is a paragon of what a city built on a complex and powerful sociopolitical foundation can achieve for centuries on end.
Manzanilla, Linda 2018 Corporate Societies with Exclusionary Social Components: The Teotihuacan Metropolis. Origini, Prehistory and Protohistory of Ancient Civilizations XLII:211-225.
Today, it is very easy to photograph and document the world around us. For example, people visiting Teotihuacan can take countless photos and share them on social media immediately; however, in the past, it was much harder to capture and reproduce images. The lithographs, paintings, and photographs from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century demonstrate the many changes that the archaeological zone of Teotihuacan has undergone. Most of the images here can be found at INAH’s Media Library.
Developed in the late 18th century, lithography is a printing method which has been used to preserve images that explorers saw. In lithography, an image is engraved on a surface (usually limestone), ink is applied, and then the stone is pressed into paper (Tate 2021). This process allowed for a wider distribution of images of sites such as the Teotihuacan pyramids and its scenery during the 19th century.
José María Velasco (1840-1912) was a Mexican painter who accompanied Gumesindo Mendoza in his expeditions to Teotihuacan and portrayed the city’s landscape in his paintings (Google Arts and Culture s.f.). Teotihuacan was abandoned around AD 550, so after some 1,300 years had passed, there was certainly a lot more vegetation covering the monuments for Velasco to capture.
The first archaeological work began on site in the early 20th century by Leopoldo Batres to commemorate the centennial of the Mexican War of Independence. Batres was commissioned by President Porfirio Díaz to explore and restore some of Teotihuacan’s monuments. This project included reconstructing the Sun Pyramid, building railway lines, and discovering murals in the Temple of Agriculture (Batres 1993 [1919]).
The excavation, restoration, and reconstruction of Teotihuacan continued through the 20th century. The rest of the photographs here likely refer to:
The project directed by Manuel Gamio where he carried out a comprehensive study of the population in the Teotihuacan Valley (Gamio 1922). Some of the work his team accomplished include the excavations of the Ciudadela as well as the exploration and restoration of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid and its attached adosada (Figures 15-17).
Excavated pits in the Ciudadela and tunnels in the Feathered Serpent Pyramid by José Pérez under the direction of Alfonso Caso (Pérez 1997:488 [1939]) (Figure 18).
The Teotihuacan Project directed by Ignacio Bernal, head of the Department of Prehispanic Monuments. Although some of the buildings were excavated to learn more about their history, most of them were reconstructed so they could be restored back to the last occupational phase look (Bernal 1997 [1963]) (Figures 19 and 20).
These images document how much change Teotihuacan had undergone in the first half of the 20th century. Although several centuries have passed since its occupation during the Classic period, this site continues to be relevant in the construction of our history. To know more about the history of this pre-Hispanic city, you can check the PPCC’s study area section.
References
Bernal, Ignacio 1997[1963] Teotihuacan: descubrimientos y reconstrucciones. In Antología de documentospara la historia de la arqueología de Teotihuacan, compiled by Roberto Gallegos Ruiz, José Roberto Gallegos Téllez Rojo, and Miguel Gabriel Pastrana Flores, pp. 594-615. National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico, D.F.
Pérez, José 1997[1939] Informe de los trabajos de Alfonso Caso y José R. Pérez. In Antología dedocumentos para la historia de la arqueología de Teotihuacan, compiled by Roberto Gallegos Ruiz, José Roberto Gallegos Téllez Rojo, and Miguel Gabriel Pastrana Flores, pp. 488-498. National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico, D.F.
Come join us at the Society for American Archaeology’s 2021 conference. This year it will be online and our team members have prepared the following presentations:
APRIL 16
8:30 am EDT – 7:30 am CDT Ariel Texis Muñoz, Tanya Catignani, Nawa Sugiyama and Saburo Sugiyama—Mapping Teotihuacan’s Inception: Patlachique Phase Ceramics Distribution on the Lidar Map
10:15 am EDT – 9:15 am CDT Teresa Hsu and Nawa Sugiyama—Playing with Your Food to Feed the Masses: A Zooarchaeological Perspective at Teotihuacan, Mexico
APRIL 17
11:00 am EDT – 10:00 am CDT Ryohei Takatsuchi, Nawa Sugiyama, Saburo Sugiyama, Tanya Catignani and Yolanda Peláez Castellanos—Spatial Distribution of Ceramics and Lithics at the Plaza of the Columns Complex, Teotihuacan, Mexico
See you all there!
The conference’s final program can be found at the SAA Website.
