Teotihuacan
100 to 600 BCE (contemporary of Rome)
100,000 urban citizens, 1,000,000 metro area (similar in scale to Rome)
Teotihuacan was multi-ethic, including Maya, Zapotec, and Gulf Coast peoples.
Much of what we assumed about Teotihuacan came from Aztec mythology, as reported to the Spanish. But the Aztec found the city already abandoned. And their myths have since been contradicted by the archeological record.
Teotihuacans self-consciously rejected the violent hierarchies of the nearby Classical Maya, and their own past.
Teotihuacan disintegrated around 550 CE, not due to invasion.
Hierarchial Past and Pyramids
Around 0 CE, Teotihuacan grew dramatically as folks moved in from the south due to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Civic infrastructure in Teotihuacan from this period was dominated by massive monuments.
- The Rios San Juan and San Lorenzo were diverted to match the city's orthogonal grid.
- At the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, a massive lake was dug with slave labor.
- Pyramids of the Sun and Moon were built as massive sites for ritual sacrifice.
Revolution and Public Housing
Around 300 CE, there was a revolution.
The statues in the Temple of the Feathered Serpent were smashed. No more massive monuments were built.
Building shifted to a mass program of high-quality social housing. These were single-story complexes of 20 homes around a shared courtyard, which housed around 100 people. Even the most modest units were comfortably sized and showed signs of art, wealth, and a varied diet.
Psychedelic Art
Teotihuacan art features vibrant murals with psychedelic imagery, including hallucinogenic seeds and mushrooms, rainbows sprouting from heads, and people sprouting from plants.
Teotihuacan art was linear and blocky. Teotihuacan art also indicates social equality -- there are no signs of domination: no kings, whips, or chains; and each person is the same size and nearly indistinguishable.
In contrast, Mayan art of that time was curvy and clearly celebrates violent kings.