Tlacopaya is located in the central region of the Mexican high plateau. A site that is estimated to be 20,000 years old according to the artifacts found in Tlacopaya and Tepexpan. The site has several buildings that were dedicated to the gods. Tlatilco is believed to have been used for burial offerings, since some female figurines were found along with zoomorphic vases, seals and figures of Olmec design. The site’s date is between 1500 B.C. and 500 B.C. Other ceremonial sites were Copilco, Tetelpan and Cuicuilco which are dated from 500 B.C. to 100 A. D..
Teotihuacan was an advanced city with distinct social classes, art, architecture, agriculture, international trade and military rule. Teotihauacan was a city 30 miles northeast of Mexico city which controlled the whole valley of Mexico from 100 to 900 A.D. From 650 to 900A.D.Teotihuacn started loosing power. This was a time when other cultures began to flourish: Xochicalco, Cacaxtla and Cholula. The Tolteca took over the empire for a brief period until the 13th century when the Mexica culture with their god of war Huizilopochtli (Left-handed Hummingbird) led by the priest Tenoch fought and defeated the established tribes and settled at Chapultepec only to be driven out by the Acohuas forcing them to take refuge at a large island in the lake. “Signaling the end of Mexica pilgrimage was the vision of an eagle devouring a snake while perched on a cactus growing on the island. Thus the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded on June 8th 1325.”
The Mexica built a great empire that expanded to “the distant lands of Soconusco (southern Chiapas) under the leaders Izcoatl, Moctezuma I, Axayacatl, Tizoc, Ahyuizotl, and Moctezuma II.” The building structures were similar to those in Teotihuacan and Tula with the astronomical orientation of the principal avenues of the city with a ceremonial enclosure at its center. The Templo Mayor is a structure with double pyramids. Each pyramid dedicated to the god of war Huitzilopochtli and the other to the god of water and rain Tlaloc. Temples were also dedicated to Quetzalcoatl (hero-god, father of civilization), Tezcatlipoca (god who creates and changes all things and destinies), Ehecatl (god of wind). “The Templo Mayor stood as not only the most visible landmark of a vast urban infrastructure, but also represented the cosmic center of a universe which required frequent human sacrifice to sustain it.”
Tenochtitlan was enlarged by refill of land, aqueducts, and floating plots of land called chinampas. The city was connected to the valley by the networks of large causeways. Traders that came to the tianguis (markets) arrived by canoes or walked. The water around the island was not drinkable so the Mexica built aqueducts to bring drinking water from the natural springs at Chapultepec. “by 1519 the city possessed a level of refinement and magnificence comparable to the most important cities in the world.” Other artifacts or objects such as points, arrowheads, spears, tools and bones left at the Tlacopaya and valsequillo sites are estimated at 12 to 23,000 years ago
The roots of the city (1500B.C. –1500A.D.) Ciudad de Mexico-City history http://www.mexicocity.com.mx/history1.html
Pre-Columbian Peoples of the Americas. El Centro College & anthropology Links http://pweb.netcom.com/~wandaron/arch-anth.html
Written by: Alfonso Cabrera