Teotihuacán

Teotihuacan, built between 100 BC and AD 250 and inhabited until about AD 750, is one of Mexico's most important pre-Hispanic
archaeological sites and was the dominant civilization of Mesoamerica in its day. (My Latin students should note that it was flourishing around the same time as Rome.) In my opinion, it's even more impressive than the Yucatan's Chichen Itzá, recently proclaimed one of the seven wonders of the "modern" world. Among the unknowns of Teotihuacan: who built it, what language they spoke, what they called their city. Later the Aztecs named it Teotihuacan, the place where gods are born. Two pyramids dominate the site - the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.




The structures were originally covered in a sort of stucco and painted with murals. Here are some murals from inside one of the buildings. The plume coming out of one figure's mouth indicates speaking. The bottom image of a man being tortured or sacrificed (along with other recent studies) points to a more violent civilization than scholars previously thought.