Teotihuacan Religion

Teotihuacan is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico twenty-five miles northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is famed as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas, namely the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Although close to Mexico City, Teotihuacan was not a Mexica (Aztec) city and predates the Aztec Empire by many centuries. In addition to its pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead, and its vibrant, well-preserved murals. Teotihuacan was founded as a religious center around the first century CE. The city reached its peak in 450 CE when it was the center of a powerful culture whose influence extended through much of the Mesoamerican region. The era that spans 650 to 750 CE witnessed the end of Teotihuacan as a major power. The city's elite housing compounds, clustered around the Avenue of the Dead, bear many burn marks. Archeologists hypothesize that the city experienced civil strife that hastened its decline. Factors that may also have contributed to the decline of the city included disruptions in tributary relations, increased social stratification, and power struggles between the ruling and intermediary elites. Scholars beleive that the primary deity of Teotihuacan was the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan. Politics were based on the state religion, and religious leaders were also political leaders who would commission buldings and art used for ceremonies and rituals. As evidenced from remains found during excavations of the pyramids in the city, Teotihuacanos practiced human sacrifice. Scholars believe that the people offered human sacrifices were offered in in connection with the dedication of a building to ensure the city would continue to prosper. Victims were probably captured enemy warriors captured in battle. Some victims were decapitated, some had their hearts removed, others killed by being hit several times on the head, and some were buried alive. Animals that considered sacred and representive of mythical powers and the military were also buried alive or captured and held in cages. Excavated remains of these non-human victims include cougars, a wolf, eagles, a falcon, an owl, and even venomous snakes. In addition to the supreme Great Goddess of Teotihuacan, the inhabitants of Teotihuacan venerated the Feathered Serpent (an important deity closely associated with the Feathered Serpent Pyramid), the Storm God, the Old God, the War Serpent (either an alternate or duplicate of the Feathered Serpent), the Netted Jaguar, and the Pulque God. The Fat God the Flayed God are nown primarily from figurines, so it is assumed that they are related to household rituals. Numerous stone masks have been unearthed at Teotihuacan and are generally believed to have been used in connection with funerals, but some scholars question this assumption. The archeological park of Teotihuacan is under threat from development pressures. In 2004, the government gave permission for Wal-Mart to build a large store in the third archeological zone of the park. An archeologist discovered fragments of ancient pottery were found where trucks dumped soil removed from the Wal-Mart construction site.