exhibition dossier teotihuacan city of the gods Teotihuacan grew to become the dominant force in the Valley of Mexico between 300 and 100 BCE, and its influence soon spread to a far wider area that included also mountainous regions. At the peak of its splendor, it was one of the largest human settlements anywhere in the world. Teotihuacan is simply vast: its squares, its pyramids and its streets simply overwhelm the visitor with their enormous size. Brian Fagan Malinaltepec Mask, with mosaic covering and necklace with pendant. Stone with applications in turquoise, amazonite, obsidian and shell. 100-650 AD, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City • how to use this file • Teotihuacan • work modules the metropolis the pyramid wall paintings masks shells • suggestions for further reading from the Art Bookshelf • internet sites how to use the file This file is designed for anyone interested in finding things out and in experimenting with things. It offers suggestions for discussion topics and activities. The work modules explore key themes with images, information, quotes and tips for encouraging creative activity. It is a useful tool for further developing the issues addressed at suggestions for use the exhibition, either at school or and at home, in an attempt to foster a resource for teachers, parents and professionals With over 400 exhibits from digs conducted between 1998 and 2004 and on display here ongoing dialogue with schools in Italy for the very first time, the Teotihuacan: City of the Gods exhibition offers the public and families well beyond the mere an overview of this ancient Mexican civilization which disappeared so myteriously. The visit to exhibition itself. visitor is taken by the hand and led to discover the most important and appealing aspects of Teotihuacan, from its town planning to its politics, from its religion to daily life in the city, and from its art to the city's role in a broader Central American context. to analyze thoroughly our This file, like the exhibition itself, offers a mix of several distinct disciplines and touches on methodology, we suggest you: a variety of different aspects in the spectacular artistic story of this city, which many have C. Francucci e P.Vassalli (a cura di), likened to a central American Rome, in an attempt to bring the exhibition to life for Educare all’arte, Electa Milano 2005 children as it strikes a chord with their own lifestyle and experience. C. Francucci e P.Vassalli (a cura di), We’d love to know what you think of this dossier and the things it offers so please Educare all’arte. Immagini esperienze don’t hesitate to write us at this address: [email protected] percorsi, Electa Milano 2009 educational aims • encouraging group work based on interaction with others involving story telling, descriptions and dialogue, asking each other questions, information, impressions, opinions and feelings; • educating children to critically observe and analyze objects from other cultures than their own, discovering the similarities and the differences inherent in human activity; • familiarizing childern with diversity by discovering the customs and the history of a different people; • fostering the realization that the form and material of a work of art can help to mold its significance and its function; • helping children to realize the part each one of us has to play in preserving our heritage through the study of archaeology; • approaching history through comparison with children's own daily lives to stimulate curiosity and to explore its relevance to the present day; • offering learning methods based on the kind of theoretical criteria and practical solutions that can be achieved in a workshop environment. Sculpture with an image of a death deity. Stone, stucco and pigment, 400-600 AD, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City 2 obsidian volcanic stone that looks like glass and is usually grayish black in color. In Teotihuacan, on the other hand, it has a distinctive green color. At least as sharp as metal, it is used to make blades and other sharp tools. Aztecs a nomadic people that began to settle in the Valley of Mexico in the 13th century, subsequently establishing Tenochtitlàn where Mexico City stands today. Toltecs a warrior people who took Teotihuacan over the city of Teotihuacan after its fall, maintaining control over it for Teotihuacan is situated close to Mexico City, at an altitude of approximately 2,300 mt. about two hundred years. Devoid of either walls or military constructions, the city is a grandiose sacred complex conquistadores Spanish colonizer which includes pyramids, temples and palaces. It dominates an alluvial valley with springs who conquered Central and South that make the terrain extremely fertile. The presence of volcanoes provided the local America in the mid-16th century, people with obsidian, a material which can be used to make artifacts and tools. The city after the discovery of the New World, reached the peak of its splendor between 150 and 450 CE, when it became the center of a and brought the native population major culture that wielded a power and influence over Central America comparable with under brutal control. that wielded in Europe by ancient Rome. After its mysterious fall, the peoples who settled in the city were so overawed by the enormous size of the massive ruins meeting their eyes, that they were convinced the gods had sacrificed their own existence to permit the start of a new era. It was the Aztecs who called it Teotihuacan, "the city where gods are born" and who dedicated the largest the Diego Rivera collection pyramids in the city to the Sun and Moon. Even today we still do not know the reasons Some of the exhibits on display come that led to the city's downfall. Was it sudden climate change that brought famine and from the prestigious collection of hardship? Was it a barbarian invasion? Or was it a series of internal grassroots uprisings artist Diego Rivera. Starting in 1942, within Teotihuacan society itself? Some sources tell us of looting and burning in the city the artist devoted the last years of his by the Toltecs in around 700 CE. Many hundreds of years later, the Spanish conquistadores life to the creation of a studio-home found Teotihuacan completely abbandoned and covered in garbage, earth and vegetation. (today the Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli) to house his collection The first archaeological digs were undertaken in the early 20th century and they have of archaeological artifacts. Pre- been going on without a break since then, unearthing a grandiose Neolithic metropolis. columbian civilizations meet Teotihuacan became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. contemporary history in Rivera's art, in which the religious symbols of ancient Mexico are fused with today's events. His paintings are designed for the large wall surfaces of public buildings. One of his most important projects was the presidential palace, for which he painted the "History of Mexico from the Conquest to 1930". chronological outline of ancient civilizations in Central America 3 work module Avenue of the Dead this name was given to it by the Aztecs, who believed that the awe-inspiring buildings on either side of it were tombs built by giants for the first lords of Teotihuacan. zenith this is the highest point in the sky, directly overhead the observer on the ground, and it lies exactly 90° from the horizon. In the the metropolis Tropic of Cancer the sun reaches in zenith at midday on 21 June, the day We know very little about the knowledge or the beliefs of those who built Teotihuacan. the summer solstice is celebrated. Despite the fact that archaeologists have been working among the ruins for over a century, Quetzalcóatl this is the name that only a very small part of the city has been scientifically excavated to date. the Aztecs gave to the plumed Fernando Jiménez del Oso serpent, the principle deity throughout Central America. The Quetzal, a rare climbing bird with a Teotihuacan was built to a specific plan around a north-south axis known as the Avenue of tail over 80 cm. long and iridescent the Dead, with the major ceremonial buildings rising to either side of it. The monumental blue-green plumage, was a symbol of area is built in accordance with the principles of symmetry and perpendicularity. The divinity and it is combined here with planners designed their city in a cross shape, cutting the north-south axis by diverting the the coatl or water snake. The three San Juan river. The project's regularity has prompted archaeologists to posit a close link elements of air, water and earth are between the site on which each building was erected and observation of the map of the merged in his final aspect. heavens. The Avenue of the Dead reproduces the sun's trajectory in the course of a single year, while the great Pyramid of the Sun marks the spot on the horizon where the sun sets once a year, on the day it reaches its zenith. At the northernmost point of the Avenue we encounter the Pyramid of the Moon which, while smaller than that of the Sun, is perfectly aligned with it because it was built on higher ground. To the south of the Avenue, the Citadel is a square-shaped complex which is thought to have been the residence of the priests, the most powerful elite in the city. Within its walls is located the pyramid of Quetzalcóatl, a temple dedicated to the most important deity in Central America. The other buildings were erected on a grid plan organized around the two main streets, the Avenue of the Dead and the East-West road.