/ARTS WEEKLY/ARCHAEOLOGY-MEXICO: Cement Defeats the Aztec Gods

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Apr 22 2003 (IPS) - The archaeological enigma of the Teotihuacán citadel, located near the Mexican capital, will guard its secrets under the cement and steel of urban growth, perhaps forever.

Archaeologists warn that in 20 years all that will be left are 263 of the original 3,500 hectares of Tollan Teotihuacán, the name given the Aztecs gave the area, and which means "there where men are converted into gods."

The Aztecs discovered Teotihuacán sometime around the year 1300 a.c.. Its original name is not known.

The religious fortress was built approximately 2,000 years ago and reached its maximum splendour in the years 450 to 600. But by the year 700 its inhabitants had abandoned the site, for reasons that are still not understood.

The Aztecs, impressed by the abandoned structures, thought they had been built by giants with the help of the gods, say historians.

But the urban sprawl surrounding the site’s main area, where the pyramids of the Sun and Moon, several temples and the so-called Walkway of the Dead are located, continues to expand relentlessly.

"All that will be left of Teotihuacán will be the main ceremonial centre, which is now surrounded by walls, as the places where there were houses, cropland, tombs and other structures have already given way to urban growth," archaeologist Fernando Cortés commented to IPS.

Archaeological investigations in the area had yet to decipher the mysteries of the ancient city, which today draws thousands of tourists from around the world. And perhaps the story behind the ruins will never be deciphered.

Buildings and roads built in the past 20 years over what was the ancient city left intact only the ceremonial site of 263 hectares and part of the 200 hectares surrounding it.

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) is engaged in legal disputes with the municipal authorities of the towns surrounding the tourist area of Teotihuacán.

The Institute claims that the town officials ignored land expropriations and failed to heed bans on new construction.

The problem of urban sprawl is being handled through dialogue with the local residents and authorities, says INAH, but in recent years the phenomenon has spun out of control.

Nevertheless, INAH sources say they are moving ahead with efforts to tear down several recent constructions and to prevent further building in the area.

But Cortés has his doubts. "It remains to be seen, because so far INAH has proven incapable of halting urban growth, which is closely tied to the tourism industry."

Throughout much of what was Teotihuacán, the ancient city whose population swelled to 200,000, there is a proliferation of new houses and roads.

Within the 3,500 hectares that the ancient peoples inhabited are now towns with names like San María Coatlán, San Martín de las Pirámides and San Sebastián Xolapan, among others.

"If something urgent isn’t down about urban growth it will be impossible to study any more about the culture that is known today as Teotihuacán, because a large portion of it will be buried under cement," lamented Cortés, who worked for INAH in the 1990s.

Just 45 km from Mexico City, some 500,000 people live in Teotihuacán and its surrounding areas, many of whom commute to the capital to work.

Every year, more than a million people visit Teotihuacán, archaeologists and tourists alike, who are amazed at the symmetry and size of the pyramids and their alignment with the planets.

The largest structure, the Sun pyramid, is as tall as a 20-storey building. Its base is comparable in area to that of the largest Egyptian pyramid.

In Teotihuacán, represented in various paintings and sculptures are the deities that, under different names, were later venerated by other Mesoamerican peoples.

There are, for example, representations of the gods of the rain and water, the Sun and the Moon, and the plumed serpent that the Aztecs called Quetzalcóatl.

Aztec mythology speaks of giant men and powerful gods who gathered in Teotihuacán to create the heavens.

"We archaeologists do not have firm explanations about the inspiration that gave rise to the pyramids and structures, but we are working hard to find them," said Cortés.

"The sad thing is that now we have to worry more about the survival of the area itself than about scientific research," he said.