ASU Archaeologist Discovers Possible Keys To First Metropolis - UPDATES

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                                          ASU Archaeologist Discovers Possible Key



                              To Mysteries Of The Western Hemisphere's First Metropolis






ScienceDaily
(Oct. 28, 1998) —

The recent discovery of a skeleton and 150 surrounding artifacts inside the Pyramid of the Moon at the ruins of Teotihuacan, an ancient city 25 miles from current Mexico City, could very well be a critical clue to understanding this lost culture, according to Arizona State University Professor of Anthropology George Cowgill, a consultant on the excavation and longtime associate of ASU archaeologist Saburo Sugiyama, who made the find.

Discovered in mid-October and still in the process of being excavated, the burial is suspected to date to approximately 100 A.D., in the early years of Teotihuacan, the first great metropolis of the Western Hemisphere.

Perhaps even more archaeologically important, however, are indications that the skeleton may have belonged to one of the city's rulers. If this is so, it would be the first grave of a Teotihuacan ruler to be found, and information learned from the site could literally revolutionize modern understanding of Teotihuacan's still largely unknown culture and history. Discovered under the city's second largest pyramid, along the centerline, the body was buried seated and is surrounded with many offerings, including large obsidian and green stone figurines.

According to Cowgill, this is similar to the pattern of rulers' burials found at related sites to the south. "It's early in the excavation," said Cowgill, "but I'd cautiously call this the burial of an extremely important person."

Cowgill also noted that if the pattern holds true, this may be just the first of several rulers' burials waiting to be found under the Pyramid of the Moon, as series of such burials have been found similarly centered under other Mesoamerican monumental structures.

The discovery of an intact ruler's burial site is likely to provide critical information that could either significantly revise or confirm current theories about the Teotihuacanos, since grave goods are often heavily iconographic, Cowgill said.

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Though the civilization left massive ruins, no trace has yet been found of a writing system and very little is known for sure about its inhabitants, who were succeeded first by the Toltecs and then by the Aztecs. The Aztecs did not live in the city, but gave the place and its major structures their current names. They considered it the "Place of the Gods" -- a place where, they believed, the current world was created.

At its peak around 500 A.D., Teotihuacan contained perhaps 200,000 people, a master-planned city covering nearly eight square miles and larger and more advanced than any European city of the time. Its civilization was contemporary with that of ancient Rome , and lasted longer ­ more than 500 years.

The recent discovery is of special personal significance to Sugiyama and Cowgill, who were part of a team that found a spectacular series of mass graves under Teotihuacan's much smaller Feathered Serpent Pyramid in the late 1980's. Among that excavation's finds were some startling warriors' burials -- probably sacrifices to dedicate the pyramid -- but a large pit where a ruler was suspected to have been buried was found looted and empty.

The older, more primitive construction lying under the Pyramid of the Moon may have protected its secrets, Cowgill noted. "The Pyramid of the Moon is difficult to dig because of a lot of loose rock used in the construction -- this makes it dangerous for archaeologists to tunnel under but it's also resistant to looters," said Cowgill.

The grave is located within a structure that had subsequently been covered by two other structures and finally by the current pyramid, which was constructed around 250 A.D.

The excavation is a joint project of the ASU Department of Anthropology and Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History and is funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Sugiyama and Mexican archaeologist Ruben Cabrera head an international excavation team which includes graduate and undergraduate students from both institutions, as well as graduate students from the University of Tokyo, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and the University of the Americas.

Study and analysis of the burial items and other materials found in the excavation will be conducted at the ASU Archaeology Center in nearby San Juan. The center, which has quarters and laboratory space for ten archaeologists, was founded with the help of an NSF grant in 1987 to do research on Teotihuacan.

Excavation of the site is expected to continue until March 1999.


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Adapted from materials provided by Arizona State University.
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 MLA Arizona State University (1998, October 28). ASU Archaeologist Discovers Possible Key To Mysteries Of The Western Hemisphere's First Metropolis.


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              Ceremonial Burial At Moon Pyramid Shows Teotihuacan Rulers Had Mayan Connection







ScienceDaily
(Oct. 29, 2002) —

Were the rulers of the great ancient Mesoamerican civilizations related?

Of these, Teotihuacan, the 2,000-year-old, metropolis that was the first great city of the Western Hemisphere, has long been a mystery. Located 25 miles northeast of the current Mexico City, this ancient civilization left behind the ruins of a master-planned city grid with immense pyramids covering eight square miles and having a unique culture. But even the Aztecs, who gave the city its present name, did not know who built it. They called the monumental ruins "the City of the Gods."

Though Teotihuacan at its height was roughly contemporary with the early stages of the Mayan cities located far to the south in the jungles of southern Mexico and Guatemala, archaeologists have long noted pronounced differences between the cultures and only minor evidence of interaction. Now, startling new evidence from an excavation still in process at Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Moon is revealing a Mayan link with the great city's aristocracy - and may soon be sending reverberations through foundations of Mesoamerican archaeology.

The excavation, directed by Saburo Sugiyama, professor of archaeology at Aichi Prefectural University in Japan and research professor at Arizona State University, and Ruben Cabrera of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, has found a distinctive burial in the pyramid, one of Teotihuacan's oldest and largest structures, containing three ceremonially positioned bodies, other ceremonial items, and jade artifacts that appear to be of Mayan origin.

"The jade objects are especially interesting," said Sugiyama, a leading authority on Teotihuacan, who has been excavating sites in various parts of the city for decades. "We believe that some of them came from Guatemala.

"Some jade objects were carved in Maya style and we know that they were often used as symbol of rulers or royal family members in Maya societies. We have to study the objects and bones further, but the offerings strongly suggest a direct relation between the Teotihuacan ruling group and the Maya royal families."

Among the items is a spectacular jade statuette of a person with relatively realistic features and big eyes. Jade is a rare and precious material in Central America. The nearest and most likely source of the stone is located in the Motagua Valley in Guatemala, which seems to further confirm the objects' Mayan origins.

The burial site is located at the top of the fifth of the pyramid's seven layered stages, and appears to have been created as an offering during the construction of the sixth stage, which is dated circa 350 A.D., near the time of Teotihacan's greatest power and prosperity.

According to Sugiyama, the bodies found in this tomb offer further evidence that the burial is a unique and important find. Since 1998, Sugiyama and his team have excavated several other human burials in the Pyramid of the Moon containing symbolically important animals (such as pumas, coyotes, eagles and serpents), large shells, weapon points and artwork, but the human remains in the earlier discoveries all appeared to be bound captives - offerings dedicating stages of the pyramid. The current discovery is somewhat similar in its ceremonial and symbolic objects, but differs significantly in the positioning of the human remains.

"Unlike the earlier burials we've discovered in the Pyramid of the Moon, these three bodies didn't have their hands tied," Sugiyama noted. "In addition, they were found in a cross-legged seated position, which is very rarely, if ever, found in burials here.

"The position, however, can be seen in images in murals, sculpture or figurines as priests, gods, or warriors in Teotihuacan and other related sites."

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Similar body positioning has also been found in burials at Kaminaljuyu, a Mayan site in the Guatemalan highlands. Archaeologists have, in fact, found indications of noble Teotihuacan visitors and of their possible influence on government in the art and records of a number of Mayan cities, including Tikal and Copan. Some evidence has also been found for the presence of Mayan visitors in the common residential and commercial districts of Teotihuacan.

"The archaeological evidence appears to point towards Teotihuacanos intervening in Mayan politics, " said ASU archaeologist George Cowgill, an authority on Teotihuacan. "But many people still dispute that there was really any significant influence because they were two distinctly different cultures.

"Dr. Sugiyama's discovery makes it all more complicated by adding some big new pieces to the puzzle. It certainly makes it harder to see the Mayans as not much influenced by Teotihuacan."

"I think this is significant because for the first time we have data indicating a Mayan ruling class connection at Teotihuacan, from the heart of one of the city's major monuments," said Sugiyama.

"More importantly, these new data tell us about the government Teotihuacan itself, which is one of the biggest questions," he said. "These three people were evidently from the highest socio-political status group."

The three bodies are all male, and are estimated to be approximately 50 years of age at burial. Sugiyama also notes that the bodies were lavishly adorned. "They have the richest ornaments ever found in a burial at Teotihuacan after more than a century of research," Sugiyama said.

"The quality of the offerings is just exceptional. If we had found only one of these bodies, we would suspect that he had been a ruler or at least a royal family member, but we discovered three. This leaves us with critical questions of identification that still need to be resolved," he said. "And there is still a possibility that we may find another grave below the current burial complex and/or at other places inside the Moon Pyramid."

The excavation of the Pyramid of the Moon ended in mid-October because of Sugiyama's teaching commitments in Japan. Sugiyama plans to continue with the digging next August.

Sugiyama and Cabrera's research is sponsored by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, Arizona State University, and Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.



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Adapted from materials provided by Arizona State University.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
 APA

 MLA Arizona State University (2002, October 29).

Ceremonial Burial At Moon Pyramid Shows Teotihuacan Rulers Had Mayan Connection.


ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 7, 2008, from



http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2002/10/021029070114.htm

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Partially uncovered figurine, carved in jade, found in connection with three unbound, seated bodies and other objects at the top of the pyramid's fifth stage (the offering was presumably made in the construction of the sixth stage), circa 350 AD.

This object is notable in that it is carved from jade that originated in Guatemala, and appears to be Mayan in style. Other jade objects on top of the figurine are beads and earspools.

(Photo courtesy of Arizona State University)









Sacrificial Burial Deepens Mystery At Teotihuacan, But Confirms The City's Militarism
ScienceDaily (Dec. 9, 2004) — A spectacular new discovery from an ongoing excavation at the Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Moon is revealing a grisly sacrificial burial from a period when the ancient metropolis was at its
peak, with artwork unlike any seen before in Mesoamerica.

Though archaeologists hope that discoveries at the pyramid will answer lingering questions about the distinctive culture that built the great city, the new find deepens the mystery, with clear cultural connections to other
burials found at the site, but with some markedly new elements.

With the excavation of the pyramid nearly complete, one important conclusion is emerging: combined with past burials at the site, the new find strongly suggests that the Pyramid of the Moon was significant to the Teotihuacano people as a site for celebrating state power through ceremony and sacrifice. Contrary to some

past interpretation, militarism was apparently central to the city's culture.

Teotihuacan, the 2,000-year-old, master-planned metropolis that was the first great city of the Western Hemisphere, has long been perplexing to Mesoamerican archaeologists. Located 25 miles north of the current Mexico City, this ancient civilization left behind the ruins of a city grid covering eight square miles and signs of a unique culture. But even the Aztecs, who gave the city its present name, did not know who built it. They called the monumental ruins "the City of the Gods." The Pyramid of the Moon is one of the site's oldest structures, and has long been suspected to be its ceremonial center.

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In the continuing excavation of the pyramid, led by Saburo Sugiyama, professor at Aichi Prefectural University in Japan and research professor at Arizona State University, and Ruben Cabrera of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, the team has found a fifth tomb, this time at the center of the fifth of the pyramid's seven stages of construction. This phase of the excavation has been supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the National Geographic Society. ASU manages an archaeological research center at the site.

The filled-in burial vault contains the remains of twelve people, all apparently sacrificed, together with a large variety of offerings and the remains of various animals of clearly symbolic importance. Ten of the human bodies were decapitated. Sugiyama, the excavation director, believes that the signs of violence and militarism in the burial are especially significant.

"What we have found in this excavation suggests that a certain kind of mortuary ritual took place inside the tomb before it was filled in. It is hard to believe that the ritual consisted of clean symbolic performances -- it is most likely that the ceremony created a horrible scene of bloodshed with sacrificed people and animals," Sugiyama said. "Whether the victims and animals were killed at the site or a nearby place, this foundation ritual must have been one of the most terrifying acts recorded archaeologically in Mesoamerica."

All the human remains had their hands bound behind their backs, and the ten decapitated bodies appear to have been tossed, rather than arranged, on one side of the burial. The other two bodies Sugiyama describes as "richly ornamented" with greenstone earspools and beads, a necklace made of imitation human jaws, and other items indicating high rank.

The animal remains were found arranged on the sides of the burial structure, especially on the end opposite the decapitated bodies, and include five canine skeletons (wolf or coyote), 3 feline skeletons (puma or jaguar), and 13 complete bird remains (many were tentatively identified eagle) – all animals that are believed to be symbols of warriors in Teotihuacano iconography, according to Sugiyama. Many of the animals appear to have been bound and there are also numerous animal skulls.

"We don't know who the victims were, but we know that this ritual was carried out during the enlargement process of a major monument in Teotihuacan, and highly symbolic objects associated with them suggest that the government wanted to symbolize expanding sacred political power and perhaps the importance of military institutions with the new monument," said Sugiyama.

Though Teotihuacan at its height was roughly contemporary with the early stages of the Mayan cities located to the south in the jungles of southern Mexico and Guatemala, archaeologists have long noted very distinct differences between the cultures and only minor evidence of interaction.

During an earlier stage of the excavation in 2002, Sugiyama and Cabrera found a burial (connected to the construction of the pyramid's sixth layer) that revealing a Mayan link with the city's aristocracy. The burial included three ceremonially positioned bodies adorned with jade artifacts of Mayan design.

The current discovery is connected to construction of the pyramid's earlier fifth layer, and has similarities to the second burial found by Sugiyama's team, which was also connected to that layer, which contained four bound men (two of whom isotopic evidence indicates were Teotihuacanos and two were foreigners), and some similar symbolic animal remains.

The current burial, however, also contains some startling new features – particularly an "offering" at the center of the burial containing an mosaic human figure, with some features unique in Mesoamerican art and enigmatic in its cultural connections. The central offering also contains various shell pendants, obsidian blades, projectile points, a fragmented slate object, and "many remains of organic materials."

"The mosaic figure was found on top of 18 large obsidian knives, carefully set in a radial pattern. Nine of these had a curving form, while the nine others had the form of the feathered serpent, a symbol of maximum political authority," noted Sugiyama. "Evidently this offering in some way formed the central symbolic meaning of the grave complex." Sugiyama said.

The burial also contained obsidian human figures, knives, projectile points; shell pendants and beads, ceramics (Tlaloc jars), plaques, and a large disk.

Currently completing the excavation, Sugiyama says that the recent digging is approaching the completion of the seven-year-long excavation of the Pyramid of the Moon, though the analysis of the finds is ongoing. "We will now be able to dedicate our efforts more intensively in the material studies, analyses of different kinds, and in interpretation. We expect to publish the project results quickly," he said.

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Archival Images from the Excavation: http://clas.asu.edu/newsevents/pressreleases/photos/%5Fstorage/teomaya/


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Adapted from materials provided by Arizona State University.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
 APA

 MLA Arizona State University (2004, December 9).

Sacrificial Burial Deepens Mystery At Teotihuacan, But Confirms The City's Militarism.


ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 7, 2008, from




http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2004/12/041203084345.htm