COIMBATURE INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY  
TEOTIHUACAN

NAME: M. Lohit
REGISTRATION NUMBER: 2004069
DOMAIN: ECE (SEC II)
BATCH: 2020-2024
MOBILE NUMBER: 9361033401
 Teotihuacan is an ancient
Mesoamerican city located 30 miles
(50 km) northeast of modern-day
Mexico City.
The city, which was designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987
It was settled as early as 400 B.C and
INTRODUCTI became the most powerful and
influential city in the region by 400
ON A.D.
By the time the Aztecs found the city
in the 1400s and named it Teotihuacan
(meaning “the place where the gods
were created”), the city had been
abandoned for centuries.
Teotihuacan’s origins, history, and
culture largely remain a mystery.
 At its apogee(500 CE), IT encompassed 20
square kilometre and supported a population
of 125000 to 200000.
Making it at least the sixth-largest city in the
world during its epoch.
Its influence was felt throughout Central
Mexico and as far south as Guatemala

INTRODUCTI The collapse of Teotihuacan, central Mexico

was dominated by the Toltecs of Tula until
about 1150 CE.
ON Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also
anthropologically significant for its complex,
multi-family residential compounds, the
Avenue of the Dead, and its vibrant, well-
preserved murals.
Additionally, Teotihuacan exported fine
obsidian tools that are found throughout
Mesoamerica.
LOCATION OF TEOTIHUAN LOCATION OF TEOTIHUAN
During 600 C.E.
Now
 Teotihuacan began as a religious centre in the
Mexican Highlands around the first century CE.
It became the largest and most populated centre
in the pre-Columbian Americas.
Teotihuacan was home to multi-floor apartment
compounds built to accommodate the large
population.
The term Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacano) is also
Size & used for the whole civilization and cultural
complex associated with the site.

History Evidence of Teotihuacan presence can be seen at

numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region.
The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and
claimed a common ancestry with the
Teotihuacanos, modifying and adopting aspects
of their culture.
Scholars have suggested that Teotihuacan was a
multi-ethnic state since they find cultural aspects
connected to the Maya as well as Otto-Pamean
people.
 The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is the
subject of debate with possible candidates as the Nahua,
Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups.
The city and the archaeological site are located in what is
now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of
México, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of
Mexico City.
The site covers a total surface area of 83 sq kilometres(32
sq. mi)

Size & It is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico,

receiving 4,185,017 visitors in 2017.

History In addition to some 2,000 single-story apartment

compounds, the ruined city contains great plazas, temples,
a canalized river, and palaces of nobles and priests.
The main buildings are connected by a 130-foot- (40-
metre-) wide road, the Avenue of the Dead (“Calle de
losMuertos”), that stretches 1.5 miles (2.4 km); oriented
slightly east of true north, it points directly at the nearby
sacred peak of Cerro Gordo.
The Avenue of the Dead was once erroneously thought to
have been lined with tombs, but the low buildings that
flank it probably were palace residences.
Aerial views of city
Assumption of city at its zenith
 The name Teotihuacan was given by
the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs centuries
after the fall of the city around
550 CE.
The term has been glossed as
“birthplace of the gods”, or “place
where gods were born”, reflecting
Nahualt creation myths that were said
Naming to occur in Teotihuacan.
Nahuatl scholar Thelma D. Sullivan
interprets the name as “place of those
who have the road of the gods.”
This is because the Aztecs believed
that the gods created the universe at
that site.
 The original name of the city is
unknown, but it appears in hieroglyphic
texts from the Maya region as puh, or
“Place of Reeds”.
This led to much confusion in the early
20th century.
As of January 23, 2018, the name
“Teotihuacan” has come under scrutiny

Naming by experts, who now feel that the site’s

name may have been changed by
Spanish colonizers in the 16th century.
Archaeologist Veronica Ortega of the
National Institute of Anthropology and
History states that the city appears to
have actually been named “Teohuacan”,
meaning “City of the Sun” rather than
“City of the Gods”, as the current name
suggests.
Most believe this as "Birthplace of the gods”, or
“Place where gods were born”,
Archaeologist Veronica Ortega of
the National Institute of
Anthropology and History states
that the city appears to have
actually been named
“Teohuacan”,= “City of the Sun”
rather than “City of the Gods”,
 Today, Teotihuacan is one of the most
noted archaeological attractions in Mexico.
In the late 17th century excavations were
taken around the Pyramid of the Sun.
In the 1960s and ’70s the first systematic
survey (the Teotihuacán Mapping Project)
was led by the American archaeologist
Archaeological Rene Millon, and hundreds of workers in
1980–82 excavated under the direction of
Importance the Mexican archaeologist Rubén Cabrera
Castro.
Work in the 1990s focused on the city’s
subterranean tunnels and on the apartment
compounds, which were found to be
decorated with vividly painted murals.
 Long-standing threats to the greater area of
ruins are posed by human habitation (including
five towns), numerous shops, roads and
highways, and a military base.
Many neighbourhoods excavated in the late 20th
century had been earlier cultivated by farmers
The archaeological park of Teotihuacan is under
threat from development pressures.
In 2004, the governor of Mexico state, Arturo

Threats Montiel, gave permission for Wal-Mart to build

a large store in the third archaeological zone of
the park.
More recently, Teotihuacan has become the
centre of controversy over Resplandor
Teotihuacano, a massive light and sound
spectacular installed to create a night time show
for tourists.
Critics explain that the large number of
perforations for the project have caused
fractures in stones and irreversible damage,
while the project will have limited benefit.
 It is the city’s central broad Avenue
The Avenue of the Dead is roughly 40 meters wide
and 4 km long.
It is surrounded by impressive ceremonial
architecture, including the immense Pyramid of the

 
Sun (third largest in the World after the Great
Pyramid of Cholula and the Great Pyramid of
Giza).

Avenue Pyramid of the Moon and The Citadel with Temple

of the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl are placed at
both ends of the Avenue while Palace-museum
Quetzalpapalot, the fourth basic structure of site, is

of Dead situated between two main pyramids.

Along the Avenue are many smaller Talud-tablero
(Talud-tablero is an architectural style most
commonly used in platforms, temples, and
pyramids in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. This
may also be referred to as the slope-and-panel
style.) platforms as well.
The Aztecs believed they were tombs, inspiring the
name of the avenue. Scholars have now established
that these were ceremonial platforms that were
topped with temples.
 Pyramid of the Sun, large pyramid in the ancient city
of Teotihuacán, Mexico, that was built about 100 CE
and is one of the largest structures of its type in the
Western Hemisphere.
The pyramid rises 216 feet (66 metres) above ground
level, and it measures approximately 720 by 760 feet
(220 by 230 metres) at its base.It is the third largest
pyramid after Great Pyramid of Cholula and Great
Pyramid Pyramid of Giza
During hastily organized restoration work in 1905–

of the Sun
10, the architect Leopoldo Batres arbitrarily added a
fifth terrace, and many of the original facing stones
were removed.
On the pyramid’s west side, there are 248 uneven
stair steps that lead to the top of the structure.
So, It is the largest pyramid where we can go to top
afoot
Archaeologists believe that there was once a temple
atop the pyramid.
In the early 1970s exploration below the pyramid
revealed a system of caves and tunnel chambers, and
other tunnels were later found throughout the city.
 The Pyramid of the Moon is the second
largest pyramid in modern-day San Juan
Teotihuacán, Mexico, after the Pyramid of
the Sun
It rises to 140 feet (43 metres) and measures

The 426 by 511 feet (130 by 156 metres) at its

base.

Pyramid of It is in the western part of the ancient city of

Teotihuacan and mimics the contours of the
mountain Cerro Gordo, just north of the site.
the Moon Cerro Gordo may have been called Tenan,
which in Nahuatl, means “mother or
protective stone.”
The Pyramid of the Moon covers a structure
older than the Pyramid of the Sun which
existed prior to 200 AD.
Its main stairway faces the Avenue of the
Dead.
 Along the southern part of the avenue lies
the Ciudadela (“Citadel”), a large square
courtyard covering 38 acres (15 hectares).
Within the Citadel stands the Temple of
Quetzalcoatl (the Feathered Serpent) in the
form of a truncated pyramid;
Citadel& Projecting from its ornately decorated
walls are numerous stone heads of the
Temple of deity.

Feathered The Temple of the Feathered Serpent is the

third largest pyramid at Teotihuacan, a pre-
Columbian site in central Mexico (the term
Serpent Teotihuacan, or Teotihuacano, is also used
for the whole civilization and cultural
complex associated with the site).
This structure is notable partly due to the
discovery in the 1980s of more than a
hundred possibly sacrificial victims found
buried beneath the structure. 
 The burials, like the structure, are dated to
between 150 and 200 CE.
The pyramid takes its name from representations
of the Mesoamerican "feathered serpent" deity
which covered its sides.
These are some of the earliest-known

Citadel& representations of the feathered serpent, often

identified with the much-later
Aztec god Quetzalcoatl.
Temple of "Temple of the Feathered Serpent" is the modern-
day name for the structure; it is also known as
Feathered the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Feathered
Serpent Pyramid.

Serpent The Quetzalpapalotl (Quetzal-Butterfly)complex
are ruins located in Teotihuacan.
The complex is best known for the Palace of
Quetzalpapalotl (Spanish: Palacio de
Quetzalpapalotl) and the stone reliefs in its
courtyard.
Adjacent structures house surviving murals. The
main entrance faces the Avenue of the Dead and is
southwest of the Pyramid of the Moon
 CITADEL
Detail of the pyramid, showing the
alternating "Tlaloc" (left) and feathered
serpent (right) heads. Note the long
undulating feathered serpents in profile
under the heads.

TEMPLE OF FEATHERED SERPANT

Courtyard of the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl from
inside Remains of the murals in the Palace

Courtyard of the Palace of Carving of a plumed butterfly

Quetzalpapalotl from outside Quetzalpapalotl 
 Teotihuacan is an important
archaeological site in
Mesoamerican society with the
history of many Mesoamerica
groups like Aztec, Mayan, etc.
Official name: Pre-Hispanic City of
Conclusion Teotihuacan
It is famous site to visit in Mexico
with pyramids which can be
climbed.
It was a famous city during late
pre-classic to classic period
Its origin is still a mystery to
archaeologists
Right now, it faces threat from
 Reference

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_theSun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_the Moon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_the_Feathered_Ser

pent,_Teotihuacan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalpap%C3%A1lotl
 THANK
YOU ALL