Southeastern corner of the Zocalo in Mexico City

Plaza de las Tres Culturas, Mexico City

Olmecs ("rubber people" in Nahuatl)

750 BC - 250 BC

Calendar

Ball courts

PyramidsLong distance trade

Teotihuacan (“Place of the Gods” in Nahuatl): 100 BC - 750 AD

~8 square miles

Multi-ethnic population of ~100,000-200,000

Influences extended to Maya of Yucatan

Pyramid of the Sun

~75m high

The Pyramid of the Sun is the second largest pyramid in Americas. Third largest in the world. 225m X 225m at its base

Great Pyramid at Cholula is the largest in the world.

~66m high

450m X 450 m at its base

Pyramid of the Moon ~45m high

Doing business on the “Avenue of the Dead”.

More business

And, more business

And….

Pyramid of the Sun from Pyramid of the Moon

Avenue of the Dead

Temple of the Feathered Serpent, “Quetzalcoatl”.

Pyramid of the Moon

Statue in Ixtlan, Oaxacathat commemrates Zapotec warriors who resisted Mexica forces in the first decade of the 1500s.

Another map of Valley of Mexico. You read about chinampas in the article by West. Some chinampas still exist. However, one aspect of the growth of Mexico City was the draining of the lakes and

chinampas.

Remains of Great Temple of Tenochtitlan

~1300 A.D. to 1519 A.D.

Dedicated simultaneously to two gods,Huitzilopochtli, god of war and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture.

Sacred Precinct of Tenochtitlan.

~ 200m X 200m

Different stages of temple

Earlier

Later

Serpents are a common feature of Mesoamerican archeological sites.

Black = urban area

Dotted = lake area

The Gran Canal is critical for draining sewage and storm water

out of the valley.