teotihuacan

By lioncrab
  • 10,000 BCE

    End of paleolithic stage

  • Period: 10,000 BCE to 5000 BCE

    Mesolithic stage

  • Period: 7000 BCE to 700

    Archaic Stage

  • Period: 5000 BCE to 2000 BCE

    Neolithic stage

  • Period: 2000 BCE to 800 BCE

    Bronze age

  • Period: 800 BCE to 43

    Iron age

  • 400 BCE

    Area first settled

  • 100 BCE

    Large-scale urban growth

    Large-scale urban growth
    Teotihuacan was the first city to be built as a grid
  • 100

    Construction of the Pyramid of the Sun

    Construction of the Pyramid of the Sun
    • 60 m high
    • built over a natural spring
    • "The present exterior, which would have once had a facing of smooth lime plaster, covers a slightly smaller earlier pyramid built over a massive mud-brick and rubble interior" (worldhistory.org).
    • Used to be a small temple at the top
    • A 100 m tunnel inside the pyramid goes from under the outside staircase to a chamber that was looted in the past but was probably a burial chamber/shrine.
    • aligned with the sun to have no shadows on the spring equinox
  • 150

    Construction of the Pyramid of the Moon

    Construction of the Pyramid of the Moon
    • Slightly smaller than the Pyramid of the Sun
    • No chamber inside
    • "The present exterior covers six progressively smaller pyramids" (worldhistory.org).
    • the foundations contained many "dedicatory offerings" ex: "obsidian and greenstone felines and eagles and a single person"... "Offerings were also buried at each subsequent construction stage" and "There are also the remains of sacrificed animals including pumas, rattlesnakes, and birds of prey" (worldhistory.org)
  • 200

    Temple of Quetzalcoatl Constructed

    Temple of Quetzalcoatl Constructed
    • built as a celebration of warfare.
    • "decorated with sculptures of feathered-serpent and Tlaloc-like heads...once brightly painted in blue, red, yellow, and white"
    • 7 levels
    • "over 200 non-local males and females were sacrificed to commemorate its completion"
    • "at the heart of the temple are two burial chambers which were emptied, perhaps by the residents of Teotihuacan 400 CE, but one remaining feathered-serpent baton suggests that the occupants were rulers" (worldhistory.org)
  • Period: 250 to 850

    Classic Period

  • 300

    Paintings

    Paintings
    Throughout Teotihuacan murals can be found.
    For example on the walls of the Tepantitla district there is an elaborate mural "showing a figure often identified as the Great Goddess". On the mural there is also a tree as well as butterflies, flowers, and an inverted u-shape "found below the mountain-tree" similar to the "cave found at the Pyramid of the Sun". It is unknown if the murals were depicting real people or "generic representations that sought to unify a diverse population"
    Kahn Academy
  • Period: 375 to 500

    The city's peak

    "At its apogee (c. 500 CE), it encompassed some 8 square miles (20 square km) and supported a population estimated at 125,000–200,000, making it, at the time, one of the largest cities in the world" (Britannica)
  • 750

    Central Teotihuacán burned

    "possibly during an insurrection or a civil war. Although parts of the city were occupied after that event, much of it fell into ruin" (Britannica).
  • Period: 1521 to

    Colonial period

  • Designated as UNESCO World Heritage site