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The Beginnings of Teotihuacán*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

René Millon
René Millon*
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
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Abstract

The problem of the age of the pyramids of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacán is considered in the light of evidence from an extensive and hitherto unreported Tzacualli or Teotihuacán I occupation to the northwest of the Pyramid of the Moon. Material from a small excavation in this new zone is commented upon briefly. Previous analyses of the age of the pyramids are discussed in the context of the new evidence, the conclusion being that the Pyramid of the Sun and probably also the Pyramid of the Moon were built in the earliest phase of the occupation of Teotihuacán rather than later as commonly assumed. The relationships of the Tzacualli phase to other sites in the Valley of Mexico are discussed and it is concluded that the pyramids were probably built in about the last century before Christ or earlier. Since the building of these enormous pyramids implies a relatively complex level of social integration, this new level must have come into being some several hundred years or more before the building of the pyramids unless a large-scale migration was involved. For this it is contended there is no good evidence. Linné's new chronological placement of Tlamimilolpa before Xolalpan rather than after is discussed. Comments are made on the significance of this reversal of chronology for the growth of the city and for the expansion of its “influence” to other parts of Mesoamerica.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , July 1960 , pp. 1 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1960

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Footnotes

*

Since this paper was written, more extensive investigations of the Oztoyahualco zone have been made. A number of mounds and exposed structures in the zone have been mapped and further excavations were carried out in the South Platform of Plaza 1. The northwest corner of the city has been located and more is now known about the extent and nature of the occupation of this zone than is indicated in this paper. A major extension of the city to the southeast was also discovered. In addition, investigations were carried on in the tunnels within the Pyramid of the Sun which have added to our knowledge concerning this structure. Analysis of this material has not yet been completed.

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