Teotihuacan: Where One Becomes a God
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- The ancient city of Teotihuacan is one of the greatest cities ever constructed in the Americas. It was a city that was remembered by subsequent cultures long after it was abandoned. Because it was never inhabited again, archaeologists can explore the entire city and try to reconstruct the life and history of this magnificent site. Let’s find out what made Teotihuacan such a spectacular city and culture.
Special thanks to MajoraZ and Hunter Itzkowitz for assisting in research and in photo use. Thank you to Daniel Parada and David Romero for their digital reconstructions. Also thanks to Yan Garcia of the channel CanalNahuatl for all the Nahuatl reading.
Patreon: / ancientamericas
Facebook: / ancientamericas
CanalNahuatl: / @canalnahuatl3539
Sources and Bibliography: docs.google.co...
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This is a superb presentation. I am so grateful you took the time and effort. Pre-Columbian America is one of most important and most neglected areas of study in American education. I hope this video is part of a change in that. Many thanks.
Thank you. I hope that education catches on soon.
When I think of native Americans I've never thought of "Huge urban centers with ethnic neighborhoods." Just fascinating stuff.
Not all Native American live in tipis.
@@AncientAmericas or longhouses
Yeah, that is basically most of Mexico City still today, tho'...
And there's more cities like Teotihuacan in the timeline of Precolumbian america, like Tikal, Tenochtitlan, Cahokia, Cusco, Chan Chan, Wari, Uxmal, Caral, La danta, Palenque, Calakmul, Tollan xicotitlan...
@@bunnihanni in the US they mostly did
Those that didn’t were dead and buried by the time English speakers arrived
It is not a coincidence that México was one of the cradles of civilization.. Mexico culture is one of the richest in the world, no doubt.
It sure is!
And it’s no coincidence these Mexicans were worshipping African Gods like in this city Teotihuacan. This narrator explains none of that like his other videos. Which makes it inaccurate. The Mayans agreed they did not build Pyramids but thought ‘God built it’ when they found it. Mexicans or this narrator cannot explain that with ‘conspiracy theory’ or ‘they don’t know’. That’s ignorance. #TheMoreWeKnow
@@robertchandler2124 what in hell are you talking about? Please do elaborate ahahhahahha
@@nicholaslaport3354 Y’all on RUclips dumb it seems: Pesky fact is Olmec Gods ARE African Gods. Olmec heads are wearing helmets wore in Africa in BC when there were no Aztecs around. Aztecs admit it. You welcome. #TheMoreYouKnow
@@nicholaslaport3354 Haha! The joke is on you: These Olmecs were African. Olmec Gods were African Gods. The City is named after an African God, too! Olmecs wore African head gear. Haha The joke is on You idiots! #TheMoreWeKnow
It’s not surprising that the average Teotihuacano had a relatively high standard of living after hearing about how there was a lot of economic specialization and presumably trade. The ancient central Mexican economies are increasingly interesting to me. The Aztecs seemed to have continued in that direction, I know they had a large merchant class.
The Aztec absolutely had a lot of economic power, but the standard of living for Aztec commoners was much lower then for the Teotihuacanos, at least in termsof housing. Most Aztec commoners lived in small adobe homes/huts that were only 1-2 rooms large and not particularly well furnished: only nobles and royalty would have had residences akin to the sort of Villa compounds that were the norm at Teotihuacan.Granted, "Aztec" is a pretty vague term and can mean a few different things(the broader Nahua civilization which is the "Aztec culture", the specific Nahua subgroup in Tenochtitlan, the Mexica; or the "Aztec Empire" as a political unit, which is the alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlacopan, and their collective subject states, which included both Nahuan and non Nahuan cities/towns) and Tenochtitlan/the Mexica in particular had stricter class divides then some other Nahua cities, but even for the more egalitarian Nahuas like in Tlaxcala, my understanding is the level of housing equality was still nowhere close to what is seen at Teotihuacan.
Well most of the world depends on their crops s tier agriculturual knowledge and much more... that should say enough i mean even bill gates cums when toting his "corn" plant. He found a new god....
Much better than previous misinformation (by others), which clearly confused Teotihuacan with Tenochtitlan, which was a different culture over a thousand years later. I was embarrassed to watch that earlier posting, which had hundreds of thousands of views. Thank you for this more accurate historical rendering.
lmao
What video was that?
Which video? Point me to them and I'll post corrections in the comments.
Tenochtitlan is supposed to be the Aztec ancestors’ homeland, their home city. It wasn’t later it was earlier.
Tenochtitlan was the more ancient of the 2 however?....in fact I've heard it speculated by researchers and in lectures done by Rob Shiba and the like that it might even be the 1st city ever built by man...Cain built a city and named it after his son as soon as he left The Lord's presence tENOCHtitlan
@@dylancan69 Teotihuacan was much older by many centuries. Check your facts, sir or ma'am.
America is one of the great centers of civilization and has brought us some of the best things ever;
Chocolate, Maize, Chili and Potatoes
Tomatoes, vanilla, avocados...
@@martasuyapacruz184 please. We were convinced already and then you state vanilla
Baseball
soccer
Mini Golf
Hello. I think what really impressed me was the fact that this civilization had no access to our modern machinery such as drills, tractors or even cranes yet they were able to build this complex of huge, impressive and beautiful structures, move heavy blocks most likely weighing tons and excavate tunnels deep in the ground. They had expert architects and masons. I visited Teotihuacan a few years ago and the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon are surprisingly well intact considering their age. Thanks for sharing. It was a great video.
Tipically I don't give "Americas" youtubers much time of day because they frequently aren't up to snuff with the current data, so I admit I had ignored you up until now, but I have to say I'm impressed with this video and a lot of others you've done!
Great Content, instant follow and I'll be anxiously awaiting new content!
Wow! Thank you for giving me a chance and for sharing such praise.
@@AncientAmericas You do need a pronunciation coach though, if I'm allowed a little bit of criticism ;)
@@Rafael_Mena_Ill yes I do.
@@Rafael_Mena_Ill *typically*
Check your grammar before dishing out criticism
@@eleveneleven1865 oh pish
28:00 They should make a movie about this! A warlord named *fireborn* leads an army on a long, dangerous slog through the jungle, against a crafty and well-armed foe, yet emerges on top, slaying a king and replacing him with another. Fireborn and his crew return, triumphant, a train of war-trophies in tow. Hollywood would jump at this!
So well done! I was at Tikal in 1982 when they had just opened (like, just a few weeks earlier) the district that was probably the Teotihuacano enclave. It had endured long enough for the pyramid temples to have acquired a few layers, and the area was definitely larger than any Mayan delegation precincts in Teotihuacán. ... It is so interesting that the watery underworld theme would be prevalent in the Valley of Mexico, when that theme is so much more akin to the natural environment of the lowland Maya (and maybe Olmec as well?) with karst topography, caves, cenotes and explorable underground waterways. Where in the Nahua heartland is there such a thing? Several sites purported to have inspired Aztlán have multi-branched caves under the principal pyramid, but it seems the watery part is missing.
Thanks so much for posting this! It's very hard to get information about this place that isn't full of conspiracy stuff. There are some crazy interesting features of the site that still hold mysteries we need to solve. I'll be watching closely to see if any of it is mentioned in the video and how non conspiracy archeology explains it 👌 💯
Thank you! Yeah, there's definitely more that will be uncovered. Teotihuacan is a huge site and there plenty that hasn't been investigated.
@@AncientAmericas I noticed you didn't spend much time on the lake of mercury found below the site. Also the outer casing of the pyramid seems to have been made with stone that contains electrical properties. Also at the site huge blocks were found that act as electrical insulators. One was even broken up and sold to an electric company because the electrical insulation was better than any material they could find. I'm curious about these anomalies but since they don't really have any archeological value I can see why you skipped past them. I'm speculating they could make the pyramid glow or something they found visually appealing similar to how the pyramids heads flow water under certain conditions too.
I didn't come across that in my research. If you got a good source, shoot it my way. I'd love to check it out.
@@AncientAmericas Archeologist Sergio Gómez spent 6 years excavating the tunnel culminating in the reveal of new underground chambers in 2003. Lots of interesting stuff found in the tunnels.
Basically from what I understand the pyramid is very old. It predates many societies that used it along the way to current time. So there are a lot of human and animal sacrifices inside the tunnels however those appear to be left by a later culture who discovered the pyramids and used them but not the culture who built them. Lots of traces of other chemicals down there too. Pyrite balls etc. Mostly it appears to be used as decoration to simulate stars. Interesting though.
The youtube algorithim has bestowed me a beautiful bounty.
I really appreciate the framing, format, and sources. Great work, and I appreciate putting the context of the city's development in to the video lecture!
Thank you!
7:40 I live in Arizona so I often try to take trips to Native American ruins around the state, and something mentioned at pretty much every single one of them is evidence of trade connections with Mesoamerica because of artifacts such as Obsidian, parrot feathers etc, something someone may not expect when ancient Arizona was pretty sparsely populated when compared to Mexico, Central, and South America at the same time. In that same vein of thought, I was reading something else recently that was pretty striking - In Egypt, an artifact called the Narmer Palette, which commemorates the Pharaoh Narmer (who first united upper and lower Egypt) and was made at a time at very least roughly contemporary, is decorated partly with motifs that strongly suggest a Mesopotamian artistic influence, and this is on something dated to around 2900 BC. It's pretty striking to me how early *extremely* extensive trade networks and knowledge of neighboring (and not so-neighboring) cultures form between human societies, even without the ability to quickly transport goods long distances like across an inland sea or with access to pack animals (like Native American societies lacked).
They did not lack but excelled. You are blinded, remember who taught americans (whites) a better life. History is but a envious lie
There was not contact between ancient Mesoamerica and Egypt. Neither culture had the shipbuilding capability to create vessels that could cross the Atlantic-early dynastic Egypt was probably limited to fairly small boats (this isn’t the late Bronze Age, when trade flourished in the eastern Mediterranean) and it’s likely that no pre-Contact American culture possessed sails.
@@Halocon720🙄 is saying that ancient civilizations had very extensive trade networks and knew each other. He never said that the Mesoamericans knew the Egyptians, he only used it as an analogy
yup, well aware@@Halocon720, I was simply comparing the example of ancient Egypt having obvious contact with Mesopotamia very early on in its history to evidence of ancient sites in Arizona having extensive contact with Mesoamerica, and commenting on how early those links seem to develop between societies.
Recently went to Arizona and saw Montezumas Castle and the Tahootie Pyramid , real neat stuff 👌
Thanks for this great trip to one of the most striking places this sometime traveler has visited. I found it moving and lingered longer than planned. For some reason I found peace there. I climbed the pyramid to Quetzacotal. I saw broken pottery and shards everywhere. The sunken courtyard decorated with butterflies on the stones echoes the stories of a chorus of human brothers and sisters who lived by sacred beliefs.
Grid patterns seem to have been a common layout in planned cities in ancient times as well as modern- there are grid-patterned cities found in other ancient cultures as well- e.g. in the Indus Valley. I think we sometimes associate them with modernity because so many European cities evolved organically from small villages and have a chaotic street plan as a result, but where cities have been planned from an early stage, they frequently follow a grid pattern.
I can't speak for other ancient and medieval Eurasian or Andean civilizations, but in Mesoamerica it IS extremely atypical. The majority of Mesoamerican cities had a layout where there was a central urban core, and then radial suburbs: The urban core had ceremonial, administrative, and communal structures, like royal palaces and noble homes, plazas, temples, marketplaces, ball courts etc. Most of the structures here would usually be made of stone and richly furnished and painted, and were laid out in a planned fashion, though usually around plazas rather then a grid or a central road like Teotihuacan, with the placement of specific structures aligned for communal flow and ritualistic alignment so structures lined up with stellar bodies or specific temples could be seen from specific other structures (an example at Teotihuacan for this is how the San Juan river was aligned prependicular to the CIudadela and Feathered Serpent Pyramid, running along one the city's main west-east road, so it would appear to be springing forth as if from the pyramid/ciudadel).
In contrast, the suburbs, which surrounded the core, contained things like commoner residences, interspersed with agricultural land/landscaped agroforests/groves, and smaller mini-cores with local "neighborhood" shrines, noble homes, etc. These were usually NOT organized/planned, and spread out haphazardly, though residences tended to still be organized in what's known as a patio group, with 3-4 small residences facing one another around a small patio/plaza. The suburbs radiated out from the urban core and gradually decreased in density, often without a clear end-point, which often makes determining when a given city ended and an adjacent hamlet or town started pretty difficult: Large maya cities in particular had giant sprawls covering dozens to hundreds of square kilometers, linking multiple major cities together into a larger megalopolis.
This is obviously not universal, Teotihuacan is one such exception (organized around a central road, on a grid layout; though the urban grid still somewhat represents a "core" and the more scattered structures and agricultural land around it as seen in 3:40 roughly represents the "suburbs" still). Tenochtitlan is another: It was one of the only other Mesoamerican cities, perhaps THE only other Mesoamerican cities, with a grid layout, which Dr. Micheal Smith, an expert of Mesoamerican urbanism, argues is an intentional revival of Teotihuacano urban elements. As it was built on an island (or rather, built on an island and then expanded with a grid of artificial islands), it also had a obvious clear definable boundary for the city limits which is unusual, though Dr. Susan Toby Evans argues that other cities and towns around the lakeshore and on other islands connected to it via causeways can arguably represent a megalopolitan sprawl. There is also still a clear ceremonial district surronded by other adminstrative and religious structures which then you had the commoner residences and agricultural land around on the artificial chinampa islands. Palenque is a third exception. It was founded on a relative flat area on the side of an otherwise steep mountainside/hill, and as such, only really had so much usable land. As a result, the commoner residences were built tightly packed together on a series of acropoli complexes (which you occasionally see in Mesoamerican cities, especially Maya ones, often as part of urban cores with multiple noble homes, temples, or palaces built on top of or out of one another. These are built in an interesting iterative, almost fractal manner, if you want me to clarify on this let me know) around the a few urban cores, and as such it almost looks like a typical "haphazard" medieval european city on maps.
One last thing before I post some visual references: At a talk Dr. David Carballo gave, he showed a diagram argueing that Teotihuacan's urban design in a way has a sort of fracal-plaza setup: The apartment/villa compounds often have rooms and patios around a courtyard (which were common in mesoamerican palaces in general, to be clear), and then multiple of these compounds around a communal plaza, and then many of those compoumd-plaza units around...well, what's labeled in the diagram as the "town plaza", which teotihuacan didn't really have, so maybe it's argueing that for other Mesoamerican cities? but they didn't tend to have so many multiroom palaces with courtyards, so it doesn't work for those either... I'll have to email him about it I guess! :p
Anyways, some visual references/diagrams for you:
- A painting by Quino Marín of the city center of Copan, and then with "zoom out" structure/settlement maps of the surronding suburbs and adjacent hamlets showing the sprawl around it: i.imgur.com/kUHx6o3.jpg . Note the Patio groups of commoner/lesser noble residences in the art. As a disclaimer, there would probably have been a bit more managed/landscaped tree cover then this, though perhaps not much so. In general the further out you go from the city center and the further out from sattileite suburbs inside the sprawl, likely more of it would have been managed/landscaped forest or then entirely untamed jungle rather then entirely cleared land. Mexico, especially the Yucatan is HOT, though, so keeping at least some tree cover even in heavy traffic areas was important. Gardens were a big deal in mesoamerican socities in general. Also, I believe the color scheme and accent/archexctural style of the buildings may be off: the Rosailila temple at Copan is painted primarily red and green with more ornatre stucco/stone sculptural facades and reliefs, but it was also a prior stage/buried underneath structure 16 so i'm not sure if it's style represents what Copan's structures would have looked like at it's height. This cross sectional recreation gives that style to everything though: i.imgur.com/W011rn8.png
- Map of Tenochtitlan and Adjacent cities from/for BigRedHair's Aztec Empire webcomic: i.imgur.com/F9LQK3O.jpg . Note that this is partially speculative: While we do know the exact/relative positions of some structures in the city, different maps show contradicting locations, and we don't know the exact locations of most random residences. The locations marked here in the key are mostly known exactly, bar the aformentioned occasional slight contradiction between sources (this is a synthsiis of multiple maps), but otherwise it's speculative. Still, the overall layout of the city, causeways, etc is authentic, and still gets you the general idea of what I described above.
- This map of Palenque's layout: www.latinamericanstudies.org/maya/Palenque-Map-complete.jpg ; not gonna get into it here but Palenque is also notable for the sheer amount of aquaduct, canal, resvoir, drainage network, and plumbing systems it has due to there being dozens of springs or or nearby the city and 9 steams/rivers that ran across it. Mesoamerican cities in general often had complex waterworks systems and it's one of the best examples.
- "Aztec City Planning" and "The Teotihuacan Anomaly" by Dr Micheal Smith. www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/1-CompleteSet/MES-08-AzCityPlan-Encyclopedia.pdf and www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opar-2017-0010/html . Smith (and Susan Toby Evans, she has a lot of stuff out on Aztec palaces and gardens) are really good about posting their work online for free. Susan Toby Evans even has an entire 200+ page book on Precolumbian Palaces online for free!
- The "fractal plaza" diagram I mentioned: i.imgur.com/U41QKsK.jpg
I recommend this channel to all of my friends. It’s so so so good, I listen and relisten to the episodes every night when I’m falling asleep and when I need to take my mind off of things. The narration is so interesting and calming
Thank you!
Hey, I just discovered your channel and watched a bunch of your videos. Great stuff! I'm a historian and (non-practicing) archeologist. My focus is on East-Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe in the middle ages. But I've always been fascinated by pre-Columbian American history. Keep up the good work. Cheers from România 🇷🇴
that is super interesting, im mexican but would like to be a medievalist. Are there any books you recommend for medieval eastern europe?
@@Smoug yes. Check out The Other Europe in the Middle Ages series from Brill edited by Florin Curta.
Imagine if the main road of your home city that basically everyone uses at least once a day was called "The Avenue Of The Dead"
That was the Aztec (Mexica) name for it. We don't know what the Teotihuacanos called it
I am so happy to find this channel. My interest in ancient American culture was sparked when I visited teotihuacan. Thank you for this awesome vid
You're welcome!
Its interesting how the drawing style of Teotihuacan looks very similar to Mixtec and Aztec codices, a video about the writing system that was used in central Mexico, including the Mixtecs would be cool.
We will get to the mixtec in due time.
I've been there multiple times, no amount of photos can do it justice, it's truly a sight to behold.
I hope to see it one day.
Thank you for this very good video.The poem at the end is very impressive also.
Thanks so much for the great videos! I think the editing and narration styles you employ are very effective for communicating both the enthusiasm and level of mastery you have for your subjects. I also really appreciate the work you put in to your citations. I've had a really easy time using your videos as a touch point for my own supplemental research on the topics your videos have introduced me too. Thanks again!
No problem! I wouldn't call myself a master of these, just an avid learner who likes to share what I've learned. And thank you for noticing my citations and bibliographies! I put a lot of work into those so that that knowledge is public.
This is a very awesome place.my wife is originally from West of Pachuca .I visit this place every time I go back to visit her family. I love this place I am always amazed. How this place was built. If you are ever in central Mexico do not pass this up.
I'm a world History instructor (I studied literature and culture, not history) I have to say, that as a Mexican I was ready to criticize this video, as often do with other videos similar to this one. I have to say, I was impressed, very detailed and very informative. I was watching and I was wondering if you were going to talk about the invasion to Mayan cities, and boom, you did 😂, I was very impressed. Thank you very much for this video, I really enjoyed it. By the way, just a little something. The Aztec did went all the way to El Salvador, not what whole country as we know it to day, but a part of it, that is why you can find a dialect of Nahuatl in that country called Nahua.
Thank you for your lovely words! They were very pleasing to read. I actually left some info of the Maya invasion out of the video. I figured it would be best to cover it later when we discuss the Maya. And yes, the Aztecs did get into San Salvador but to my knowledge never penetrated the Maya heartland so dramatically. Maybe with more time, they would have but that would have been a very tough campaign to pull off. The Maya are one of history's greatest survivors and they fight to the bitter end.
@@AncientAmericas thanks for your response, very kind of you. I grew up in Michoacán, but I live in L.A. now. Just to give you a tip (for when you have time). In Michoacán there was and there's a Nation called the P'urhépecha. It was a kingdom (not an empire) that was very powerful, it was the only that were equal to the Aztec (in terms of military might). They were in some type of cold war, but the only two times they fought, the P'urhépecha were victorious. We don't know where we come from, there's a book called "La relación de Michoacán" that kind of tells the story, but not many believes it. We had tools made of metal, we worked with metal actually and we speak a language (I don't speak it) that has no relationship to any language in the whole continent. Some people say it has some similarities with quechua, the language of the Incas, but many linguistics experts say that there's no connection. I don't, is just something curious about the people of Michoacán that find weird and it has something of mystery. Have a great day and thank you for all the work you do, I'll be watching your videos.
@@soyplebe7 thanks! Oddly enough, the Purépecha are probably the most requested episode from the comments and they've been on the topic list from day one. I do want to cover them and I'll probably do so next year.
@@AncientAmericas The P'urhépecha are a mystery like I said, because no one knows where we come from or why our language has no relation to any language in the continent. There's a book by J.M.G Le Clèzio (French Nobel laureate) called "The Divine Conquest of Michoacán", that is the closest thing we have as a "History", but again, no one is certain.
Did you _double_ your subscriber count in a single month? Congrats!
The algorithm has been kind to me.
This channel is of such high quality, thank you for all the effort and research you put into these videos
Thank you!
This channel is amazing. Keep up the good work, man. You shed light on the beauty and sophistication of the americas 🌎
Thank you!
#wherethewatergo
I've always felt that the city is far too dry, I think if we had the water handling canals properly mapped we could better understand what buildings and courtyards were actually used for. I suspect there were many more water features than is obvious. The reverence of water is almost ubiquitous, but I don't see much in the way of water features there, which is exceptional, in itself.
Especially if that culture altered a river to build a city.
Well done! You did your research quite well. Perhaps you introduce yourself only as a RUclipsr, but your slides and information is even better (and up to date) that some stuff in Mesoamerican academic meetings!
Let's hope Teotihuacan's legacy endures for future generations. Kindest regards from Mexico!
Thank you! I'm flattered.
I felt the same way! I feel like I’m back in my Latinx Philosophy & Religious Thought class, listening to a lecture by my profe!
I had never heard of Teotihuacan before. For that matter, I never knew about those lakes Mexico once had. There's a lot I don't know and I'm glad for the chance to learn. This was the first video on this channel I watched, and it won't be the last.
The Copper Culture video will blow your mind 😁 And the Popol Vul one is the best explanation I've ever come across.
Thank you!
This place is something else...just beautiful energy!!
This was good! I really like how you handled academic debate. Wish I had been able to see this sooner.
Brilliant video as always! I learned so much, love the design of the coyote/wolf warriors at 27:15, interesting contrast to the jaguar and eagle warriors of later cities in the region.
Thank you!
Outstanding documentary on Teotihuacan life and culture. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you!
What a greatdocumentary! Thank you for posting this.
Thank you!
YAY!!!!! A new one!!!! 👏👏👏
Enjoy!
Very interesting, I am happy there's this sort of quality information summarized in a simple fashion online about Mesoamerican ancient civilizations.
Thank you!
Wow! Great video! I did not know they had included other cultures as that is certainly not taught much in basic US/Mexico ancient history. I’m glad I found your video. Thank you, merry Christmas and Happy New Years.
Thank you! Happy holidays to you too!
You'll have to forgive me but...your channel is fookin amazing dude !!! Your mild sarcasms and vivid story telling ability just kinda captivate me...thanks bro for making this knowledge interesting to me !!
Thanks Baby Yoda! My kids think you're the best!
I find Ancient History (specifically the Ancient Americas especially mesoamerica) as a side interest.
Cool and interesting.
Am I the only one bingeing this channel?
On a more Contemporary Note, there is now a WalMart nearby...
Awesome channel! It just popped up for me and I can already tell that I’ll be binging all your videos!
Thank you! Flattered to see another esteemed history channel leave a comment. I remember when I watched your guys' first video on Narmer last year. It's stuck in my memory because you released it around the same time when I dropped my first video.
@@AncientAmericas I’m happy that you remember me from way back then! I just checked out your channel on Social Blade and I’m thrilled for your recent rapid growth! I experienced something similar last September, but I stupidly didn’t feed the furnace and it all disappeared after about 6 weeks. I highly recommend that you don’t make the same mistake I made, but I see that you don’t have much of an issue with consistency so that’s fantastic! Keep up the great work!
Amazing high quality video as always, thanks!
Thank you!
Surprised you didn't mentioned the climate disaster of 536 CE, when multiple sources around the world chronicled a prolonged darkening and cooling that devastated agriculture and ultimately caused the Justinian plague in the Eastern Mediterranean. This moment corresponds to the period of decline at Teotihuacán you describe.
Their carbon footprint exceeded the earths tolerances. Should have switched from fossil to electric, and now we see history repeating itself 🙄
👀 how convenient.
thank you for these very informative videos.... they are well presented and really help to "connect the dots" between various cultures and influences without being too "dry".
You are most welcome!
Yet another video that I absolutely love. I already knew a bit about Teotihuacan, but this expanded my knowledge by so much. Thank you! Can’t wait for the next video!
Thank you!
Our understanding of the earlier Americas peoples and the artifacts they created is in constant evolution.
I have a confession.
I had relatives living a couple kms away from the site. When l was 10 years old l got to see a small part of a room interred in one of their properties. The walls were painted red with figurines in yellow and maybe blue, in what l remember to be a repeating pattern. They said there was also some pottery inside. In the end, the room was interred once more, undisturbed.
Just like this, there’s a lot of things left uncovered in that area.
I definitely want my child to have a badass name like that.
Question: how did they discern the identity of the sacrificed persons found near the pyramids as warriors? Were they differently built or did they have some other characteristic that hinted at their caste?
Good question! They conclude that based on the age and sex of the skeleton along with their burial goods. Also, scientists can analyze their bones and teeth to figure out what they were eating and compare it to locals to see if they were from the same area.
@@AncientAmericas ah that makes sense. Thank you for the answer. And goodluck with the channel, it's top notch content.
Also warriors will often have signs of extreme physical exertion and injuries on their skeletons
This video is incredible. I'm currently developing a story based on Teotihuacán and its mythology, and this video is an amazing overview of everything. And thank you for providing the sources in the description! I am excited to go through all of it and learn more stuff, and I am definitely gonna come back to this video in the future. I've also been going through the other videos on this channel, and I can say that you've been doing an amazing job. Thank you!!
Thank you! Please let me know if you need any help making sense of the bibliography. Good luck with the story!
@@AncientAmericas Shall do, and thank you once again! You're the best!
You wouldn't happen to be a filmmaker wouid you? a long time ago I had somebody message me who wanted to do a film on Teotihuacan I lost contact with.
@@MajoraZ Hi. Unfortunately no, I'm not a filmmaker. I'm a writer who's working on a YA series mixed with Teotihuacan mythology (similar to what Percy Jackson does with the Greek gods). Still, I hope you find that filmmaker again! It would be really cool to see that film happen.
so it was basically the nyc of classic mesoamerica. i wanna see a sitcom set in teotihuacan featuring a diverse cast, like a a maya guy, a zapotec chick, etc
I am within weeks of being 54 yrs old. My father took me to teotihuacan when i was 12 years old, i remember climbing the pyramid of the moon. The experience and memories of Toluca and the pyramids where amongst nothing short of remarkable. I wish i could have been a bit older so i could have umderstood where i was and the importance of where i was. Thx dad
Thank you. And thank you for your remarkable episode
Yep, I'm hooked on your videos 👍
Thank you!
I was happy to learn so much updated information about Mexican history, having been an Aztec-loving HS Spanish teacher, now retired. The last time I was in Mexico, my husband and I went to Yucatán and toured Chichén Itzá. I noticed much sculpture there with a Teotihuacán influence and asked the tour guide if there had been any trade between Teotihucán and Chichén Itzá; he replied a firm NO. Imagine my delight to learn that I was on track!
Thank you so much for this invigorating research and video.
Thank you! I think there might have been some misunderstanding with the guide because you are both half right. You are correct that Chichen Itza does have a lot of contact with central Mexico. It's an unusual blending of Mexican and Maya styles. However, Chichen Itza's heyday is after Teotihuacan's decline. The city that was really exerting an influence on them at that point is Tula, the Toltec capital, which is what I think the guide meant when he said no. The Toltecs were very influenced by Teotihuacan, so there is an indirect influence from Teotihuacan and that explains the similarities.
@@AncientAmericas FYI, the links between Tula and Chichen Itza are pretty disputed now, tlatollotl on tumbl has a great overview on it. If Tula was actually the "Toltec capital" or if the Toltecs as described in Nahua accounts is also pretty contentious. Even I try to not get into it too much because it's such a mess and it's hard to wrap my head around.
@@MajoraZ I have yet to research it in depth but I'll definitely connect with you when we get to the Toltec!
Pure quality content
Thank you!
Thank you again, learned a lot of new information from this! Thoroughly enjoyed it
You're welcome!
Thanks you for this new episode ^^
Thank you!
I just recently found this channel after searching for ages for a channel focused on pre-Columbian America, and wow, this is incredible! I love your videos, thank you for producing such high-quality work! If you’re interested in suggestions, I’d love to see a video on the Muisca (since there’s almost no content about them on RUclips despite how interesting they are), but I’ll watch just about anything you make next!
Thank you! About the Muisca... they are my white whale. I would LOVE to do an episode on them because nobody ever talks about them. I've had my eye on the topic for over a year. Unfortunately, there is very little written about them in English. Anything and everything substantial about them is written in Spanish and I'm a gringo who can't speak Spanish. If I ever do an episode on the Muisca, I'll probably need some help with the research and translation. Google Translate works well enough in a pinch but I'm very reluctant to go that far with it.
@@AncientAmericas I totally understand you there. Unfortunately, I can’t speak Spanish (I’d absolutely try and give you a hand if I could!), but for now I guess all I can do is wish you the best of luck in finding someone who can help you out or one of those miraculous English sources that pops up every so often!
You now have 24k subscribers :O
I'm just as surprised as you.
Loved this video - so well done in all respects. I look forward to seeing all your stuff...
Thank you!
Still waiting for a video on the Zapotec or Mixtec.
All in good time.
@@AncientAmericas Yes, no rush.
21:01
This picture just helped inspire a paint job for a Warhammer model I'm working on.
Its good to know this stuff, in the mexican education system we barely grasp over the pre colonial cultures, we don't really understend them, so Im gratefull with you
Thank you!
Respect. This channel is great!
Thank you!
Aw man Im really waiting on your videos about Teotihuacán and the aztecs, guess the first one is a check now tho!
Hope you enjoyed it!
@@AncientAmericas Yeah I really enjoyed it! It has so much information that I didnt know about the city. Great video, greetings from Honduras!
PS: I really loved that small tease when you said “When we explore Mutal’s history”, I hope you can make videos about specific cities in the future, keep up the amazing content!
@@jgelias4289 Oh Ive seen that one and also the one about the wars between Tikal and Calakmul, tho I think that one was in the kings and generals channel.
Already know this is going to be fantastic! All of your videos are so well put together and informative. Thanks for all the great content!
Thank you!
@@AncientAmericas no need to thank me, truly appreciate the content! I live in the blue ridge mountains, have you given any thought to doing any videos on the eastern woodland tribes? I would love to learn more about them, besides small local museums i see very little historical discussion of their cultures. All the best man!
Just found your channel by random RUclips suggestion, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Looking forward to subsequent content!
Thank you!
So Meso-american pyramids are more like Mesopotamian ziggurats rather then Egyptian tombs.
Generally, I'd say that's a better analogy although there are examples of pyramids in mesoamerica containing tombs.
Obsidian..incredible stuff, Obsidian..the pottery, just Awesome stuff! Awesome!
Another awesome video. I thought the relationship between Tikal and Teotihuacan was still pretty vague to our knowledge these days? Has there been more evidence uncovered that it was a military conquest and not a diplomatic or something else like that? Anyways, hope to see a video on the recent discoveries using Lidar in Peten. I'm still processing the implications of that, but the thousands of new structures and population estimates would make a great video.
There actually have been some very recent discoveries at Mutal that have changed our understanding of it's relationship with Teotihuacan. I wanted to save those for when we discuss Mutal and the Maya.
Chceck out the two recent Sciencemag pieces on Teotihuacan-Tikal relations, one from this past month and another from last year. Both talk about recent and ongoing finds.
I spent a day wandering around Teotihuican. There are beautifully painted pottery fragments all over the place. So many different styles. Also lots of obsidian flakes and cores. I can only imagine how amazing the stuff still in the ground must be.
Teotihuacan was in fact famous for its obsidian, a peculiar gold-flecked green type that was highly prized.
Edit: wow, he mentions it at 9:00 . Very cool
"giggletitty" 😂 !! That's gold l
My favorite new channel!
Thank you!
@@AncientAmericas yeah dude great work to all who worked on this.
Nicely done - enjoyed this
Thank you!
@@AncientAmericas when you mentioned Michael smith and his work suggesting a sort of egalitarian culture I knew this was pretty good! I am just an interested amateur who has visited this and other sites but I do try to follow the scholarship a little and recall him profiling this research on his twitter account. Keep up the good work!
...Thank you for the video. I am visiting Teotihuacan tomorrow (July 21, 2022). I watched this presentation in preparation for my visit. I will post my experiences here. Thanks again.
Enjoy the site!
As a retired archaeologist who had visited site in the 1970s, I wish I had the opportunity to work on the site.
I would love to visit Teotihuacan soon as well as the mexican museum of anthropology, itd be so cool!
Indeed it would!
Right after I was thinking of it, your video showed that 'some' had some indoor plumbing. I'm sure sewage would have been used for fertilizer, but somebody in your field needs to figure out the waste treatment with these folks. Being crammed together in a city, this becomes a big deal, so there must have been 'chamber pots' of some kind. This is one subject left out of the picture for obvious reasons, but no less important, and way more important than a number of subjects covered!
That's a very good question. I'm not sure how waste would have been handled throughout the city but they must have had a way to deal with it.
I noted this in the pinned comment, but current research has been inconclusive as to how/if the toilets found in some of the residences connected to other water mangement/plumbing systems, so far it seems like they weren't, which is odd considering there are clear channels built into the toilets as if water to flow through. There's some other photos I've seen where you can see stone channels for plumbing in other places, but I haven't been able to locate where exactly in the city said photos are from to figure out if we know what said plumbing was for.
One of my friends who does chemical analysis of ceramics in Teotihuacan said that there's a surprising lack of fecal matter throughout the city. Which is really weird because wherever there are humans there's lots of shit. He theorizes that since these cultures where in contact with human remains through sacrifice and bodily fluids, they had an understanding that human remains carried disease and were probably keen on proper disposal not only of blood and other remains of sacrifice, but also of feces.
👏👏👏👏Bravo Thank you. Great video. 👍
Thank you!
Any purepecha videos on the way
Eventually!
@@AncientAmericas CANT WAIT 🙏🏽🤎
Awesome. Your videos are really great and is underrated.
Thank you!
I’m a Saint Seiya weeb whose here before the Fate/Grand Order people show-off their version of Quetzalcoatl due to the thumbnail.
FYI! Saint Seiya has Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca appeared in the Next Dimension manga way before Fate/Grand Order.
More please
Thoroughly enjoy leaning of America during antiquity. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!
Instant subscribe! Idk where this channel has been all my life.
Sorry it's late. It's here now!
Fascinating, I wish there were more records about them.
thank you for another great video. I really like the longer ones, the only thing that could be improved is slightly slower pacing- see History Time, Fall of Civilizations, Histocrat. I love the content anyhow just providing some feedback
Thanks for the feedback! I try to keep these condensed partly for my own sanity but I'll see if I can slow down the episodes a bit.
Twice Ive stood atop the Pyramid of the sun and beheld the Moon and the Dragon across the avenue of the dead. Nothing can compete with the feeling. Behold our insignificance in the grand scale of things.
21:43 It's mostly considered now as a headress of Xiuhcoatl or War Serpent/Crocodile. The rings are an attribute of a concept that stuck with the Mexika-Tlaloc. Quetzalcoatl is carrying the headress in the primordial sea.
The artefacts and decorations are superb
Thank you!
Love that at the 26 min mark you have an image of Altar Q from Copan. Copan's classic period dynasty seems to have close ties to Teotihuacan.
You noticed!
Pleased to have visited it a few years, not too busy, compared to Chichen Itza and the hoards arriving from cruise ships.
Very hot and arid.
28:59 I for one welcome our new fireborn overlord...
3:50 Nixtun Chʼichʼ was laid out on a grid long before Teotihuacan, but it didn't catch on
I just looked it up and had no idea this existed! Thank you!
@@AncientAmericas Thanks! I love your videos
Who else misread the title as Tenochtitlán?
Easy mistake to make.
I wonder how many more of these man made caves are hidden under the depths of our man made forest very interesting I only knew about the cenotes I would indeed believe the effort that is tremendous would only be taken if it would be for religious sake, or indeed for kings wonder what kind of artifacts we could recover especially with the LiDAR technology we have..Was this a universal thing amongst the natives? I’ve also been wondering if the exodus and spreading of teotihuacan was perhaps because of the ethic neighborhoods and disputes between different gods? I think the burning should indeed regarded as an uprising or perhaps a payback from a city or people’s that were conquered I believe others utilized the teotihuacan tactics of covering farther strechtes with armies I’ve been going through your videos in chronological order and want to thank you so much for your efforts!
Did mesoamerican civilizations make any books?
Maïs, and maïs accessories
They did and some still survive, though they represent a tiny fraction of what was surely an enormous corpus of literature.
They did but I think the Spanish destroyed most of them
European destroyed everything sadly. And the Vatican as well.
@@AncientAmericas dang i tried to find out if anything survived from before the European arrival and i could find almost nothing.
It was also the Hub of an Extensive Trading Network.
It's Cultural Influence strongly affected the early stages at Cooan, Honduras.
Its Mythology, inherited from the Mother Culture of the "Olmec" & blueprinted all later developments in "MesoAmerica".
fantastic goals how lovely is this