exploradorcultural-blog

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Obsidian rituals performed at the pyramid of the sun

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The National History Museum of Los Angeles has a section of Mesoamerica and Latin art from precolonial times. It has many vessels and artifacts that wre used in Teotihuacan times. Admission is half off for the last hour. ENJOY  

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Chinampas, or floating gardens were a revolutionary agricultural method designed by Mesoamerican people. “Farmers” would stake out an enclosure in a marsh lake bed, weave the stakes together to form a “fence, then add dead vegetation and mud to bring the plot just above the water level. To avoid over-watering, a system of canals, dams, and sluices, were added to further facilitate a good harvest.

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The Natural Museum of Anthropology is Mexico City’s largest and most visited museum. Incorporating dozens of artifacts from Mesoamerican civilizations and even famously carrying your goddess of water, yours truly chalchiuhtlicue

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A map of Teotihuacan.

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A documentary about Teotihuacan.

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The Pyramid of the Moon in Mexico's Teotihuacan complex was built in seven stages beginning around A.D. 100. Recent evidence suggests the imposing structure, which stands 140 feet (43 meters) tall, was used as a platform for public rituals and sacrifices.

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Pyramid of the Sun – The temple complex located in the Teotihuacan, Mexican. It is a very large stone pyramid rises from a grass field. The pyramid is made up of several different levels, with stairs leading from level to level. The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest construction in Teotihuacan. It is also the third largest pyramid in the world.

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“Mural from the Tepantitla compound showing what has been identified as an aspect of the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan, from a reproduction in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City” 

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Mask from an Incense Burner Portraying the Old Deity of Fire, A.D. 450/750

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Incense Burner

“This elaborate incense burner unites a Teotihuacan ritual object with a Maya mythological narrative. It features a supernatural being, perhaps a deified ancestor, emerging from a large shell that symbolizes the entrance into the watery underworld. The figure grasps the edge of the shell with his left hand to aid his emergence into the human realm. He wears a three-strand necklace of round beads; a smaller version of the shell from which he rises dangles on his chest. His upper arms, too, are adorned with one shell each, and double strands of small beads decorate each wrist. The yellow paint of his jewelry may indicate that all were fashioned from shell. The narrative lid sits atop a base embellished with the trapezoidal nose adornment typical of the Teotihuacan elite, and large earflares are attached to each flange at the base's sides. Together these imply an adorned head, perhaps functioning as a personified representation of the earth. The base held the burning coals and incense, the smoke rising into the lid and issuing from large holes at either end of the shell. A thermoluminescence (TL) date analysis of three samples from this incense burner reveals it has been fired within the last 100 years. This could be the result of refiring the object to mask restoration work or it could indicate a piece made recently.”

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The Great goddess of Teotihuacan.

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Teotihuacan was built on top of pockets of Obsidian. Easy access to this highly prized glass strengthened the economic power of this once massive Mesoamerican empire.

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Artifact in a 2,000-year-old tunnel at the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan. The dig has yielded thousands of new relics and the discovery of three chambers that could hold more important finds…Sergio Gomez and his team recently reached the end of a 340-foot (103 meter) long tunnel that was sealed some 2,000 years ago. They meticulously worked their way down its length, collecting relics like statues, seeds, pottery, sea shells, and animal bones.

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Seated Female Figure

Mexico, Teotihuacan, Teotihuacán,

250-450

Slip-painted ceramic

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Teotihuacan - México

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Quetzalcoátl. A print of this painting can be found on my Etsy store at this link This is a devotional image of Quetzalcoátl, the Plumed Serpent, Lord of Creation, the West, the verdant summer, fertility, and life. He is is the holy man who transcended the limitations of the flesh and transformed into the Morning Star. He is the priest who guides the souls of men. He is the Lord who gave the breath of life to the first men, who discovered corn, who stole the bones of the ancestors from the underworld in order to give us life, and who sacrificed himself in order give movement to the sun and establish order on the earth. Here, Quetzalcoátl appears at the dawn of time. There was neither earth nor sky, but only a terrible goddess who writhed and moved at all times, so that nothing could exist upon her surface. Quetzalcoátl and Tezcatlipoca descended to her and entered her through her mouth and her navel, and ripping her in half, placed the upper half in the heavens where it became the sky, and the lower half below where it became the earth. Here, his leg transforms into the Feathered Serpent, ripping the body of Tlatecuhtli, the Earth Lord, goddess of the earth, in twain, to bring stability to the cosmos. Beside him, the first man and woman, Oxomoco and Cipactonal, stand in a jade bowl, having just been created, while he breathes air into their lungs and gives them life. He dances, in a symbol of artistic creativity, and is wreathed in flame, as a reminder of his final sacrifice when he purified himself and was transformed into the morning star.