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TEOTIHUACAN

LESSON PLAN

MARY ELLEN PAGE

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INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Be able to locate Mexico City on a map, and then pinpoint Teotihuacan

Have an appreciation for the valuable contributions that the Teotihuacans have

made to the world

Identify people who influenced this period in history

Recognize dates, events, and things indigenous to this civilization

Appreciate another cultures religious beliefs even though they may be vastly

different from your own

Develop critical thinking skills

Recognize the difference in B.C. and A.D. dates and be able to create a time line

using these important events

Differentiate between the pyramids of Mesoamerica and those of ancient Egypt

These materials are for classroom use only and may not be used for commercial purposes.

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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Locate Mexico City and the surrounding area on a map. Pinpoint Teotihuacan

outside of Mexico City

Review the vocabulary list to be sure that students understand each word or

expression

Discuss the idea of human sacrifice from our perspective and that of the natives of

Teotihuacan more than five centuries ago

While we find this ritual absolutely repulsive, the natives of long ago looked at it as

1) a guaranty of pleasing the gods so that the sun would shine every day. 2) They felt

that the gods had given them life, the blessings of food, conquests in battle, and

everything they needed. In return, they would offer the gods the most precious thing

they possessed, their lives. However, the different tribes used prisoners of war rather

than sacrifice their own people. They also groomed certain young people all their

lives to be the special sacrifices to the gods. Parents felt that it was an honor to offer

their children to the gods. In the case of the Teotihuacans, theY felt that since they

had stolen the bones from the cave, that they had offended the gods and had to gain

their friendship again by offering themselves as sacrifices.

Discuss the pyramids, what it is, how it is used, where they are found. Compare the

Great Pyramid in Egypt with that of the Pyramid of the Sun.

o The Egyptian one as we find out from archeologists lately was not a

burial tomb for the pharaohs, but rather a solar observatory. There are no

bodies in the Great Pyramid. (I climbed inside to the top and the bottom

and saw no sarcophagi with pharaohs.)

o However, those at Teotihuacan were intended as burial chambers for

their great rulers. In fact, the walkway in front of the Pyramid of the Sun

was called the Avenue of the Dead because the military processions

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which passed in front of them were part of the burial ritual and the area

led to the entrance to the tombs.

o In Mesoamerica, the natives used pyramids and pyramid-like structures

to mark the passing of the months for planting and harvesting, since

many civilizations had no regular calendar.

o The Great Pyramid is only 36 taller than the one at Teotihuacan.

o The Mexican pyramid is a four-story one on different levels, while the

Egyptian one is a perfectly shaped triangle.

o It is possible to climb to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun and is easy to

descend today since they have installed a chain from top to bottom. (It

wasnt there when I tried to climb it, and I regrettably never got higher

than 13 steps!!)

o There is no ceremonial temple at the top of either, unlike those of the

Mayans in the Yucatan Peninsula.

o The Egyptian one is aligned almost perfectly with the four cardinal

points of N, S, E, W.

o The Pyramid of the Moon is a lot smaller and has inclining panels on its

rectangular frame.

o Teotihuacan flourished from 100 B.C. to 600 A.D. (dates can vary by

200 yrs. either way since the Teotihuacans had no written history) so

their temple is much newer that the Egyptian one built more than 4500

yrs. ago.

o There are steps on Mexicos temple but none on Cheops.

o Mexicos is dedicated to honoring multiple rulers, with each of Egypts

honored only one for each pyramid.

Create a time line for the period 200 B.C. to A.D. 1519 (with the fall of the Aztec

Empire and the rule of the Spanish in the New World.) Use handout for data.

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Give students informational handout and discuss its contents

Assign for homework: Preview the questions for discussion and those for after

viewing the video

Review the discussion questions with class

View the video, Teotihuacan (National Geographic Ancient Mysteries series) and

have students take notes

Discuss the video

Supply information for the categories on the chart: people, places, things, events

Test students on the video and the Teotihuacan civilization

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION BEFORE VIEWING THE VIDEO

How does having or the lack of a written language affect a civilization?

Religion was considered the cement to keep the civilization together.

How does this function in early civilizations?

What do mass graves often suggest about a civilization?

How can a civilization share reverence for peace, yet offer human

sacrifices?

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VOCABULARY LIST

Identify each of the following

archeologists

Avenue of the Dead

Aztecs

balance

betrayed

cave

Citadel

City of the gods

conquistadors

Cuicuilco

El Dorado

harmony

Hernn Corts

human sacrifice

Mayans

Noche triste (sad night)

no written language

Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent

Pyramid of the Moon

Pyramid of the Sun

ritual

storm god

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacans

Texcocos

Tlaxcalans

tranquility

Utopia

Venus

warfare

wrath

year one reed

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IMPORTANT PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS, EVENTS

Identify the following

PEOPLE PLACES THINGS EVENTS

Aztecs Avenue of the

Dead

200 skeletons volcanic eruption

Teotihuacans Teotihuacan human sacrifices anger of the gods

Storm god Citadel City of the gods no written

language

Montezuma Cuicuilco Pyramid of the

Sun

stealing bones

from the gods

Hernn Corts El Dorado Pyramid of the

Moon

betrayal of

Quetzalcoatl

Tlaxcalans Pyramid of the

Feathered Serpent

Noche triste

(sad night)

Texcocos desecrating

nature

death of

Montezuma

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TEOTIHUACAN VIDEO

Answer the following briefly but completely.

1. What type of civilization did the Teotihuacans hope to create?

2. How long did their civilization last? Give approximate dates.

3. What does Teotihuacan mean in the Aztec language?

4. What were some of their major accomplishments?

5. Why did the Aztecs call the long road in front of the pyramid the Avenue of the

Dead?

6. How does thePyramid of the Sun differ from the Great Pyramid of Egypt?

7. Why are the caves important in Mesoamerican cultures?

8. The volcanic eruption that destroyed Cuicuilco, the predecessor of

Teotihuacan, had a great psychological impact on Teotihuacan. How did its

destruction influence the Teotihuacan way of life?

9. What theory explains the lack of written language in this civilization?

10. Why did Teotihuacans offer human sacrifice?

11. How was the Aztec civilization influenced by the Teotihuacans?

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ANSWER KEY TO TEOTIHUACAN VIDEO

1. Harmonious, blissful Utopia

2. 200 B.C.-900 A.D. approx. 1100 yrs.

3. "abode of the gods"

4. Sculpture, stone cutting, building apartments for 200,000 inhabitants, temples,

Utopia for a while, great city, peace loving for a long time

5. tombs of the city's rulers lined the street

6. The Pyramid of the Sun is a stepped pyramid, it was a ceremonial center, andsupposedly contained the tombs of the rulers.

Egypt: monument for one ruler, smooth pyramid

7. thought that it was the womb of the earth ---- all people came from there

8. age of glory erased; people fled to another area and set up in Teotihuacn;

thought the gods were angry with them for expanding their city and destroying

forests; decided to appease them by offering human sacrifices, haunted by

horrors of the catastrophe

9. They wanted to be unique and set themselves apart from the rest of the world.

They kept history and daily life secret from others. Other cultures wroteexclusively about their rulers. Teotihuacn purposely did not have rulers.

10. To appease the gods; they felt that they had stolen forcefully the bones from the

underworld and they angered the gods by doing this. They devastated the land

by greatly expanding their city. They stole from the gods. Life was theirsbecause they had forcefully taken bones from the gods and now they had to

return a few humans to save the rest.

12.Montezuma and the Aztecs were fascinated by the buildings, believing that the

gods had created Teotihuacn. Montezuma wanted to unlock the mysteries of

Teotihuacn. He offered human sacrifices every 20 days to appease the gods so

that the same fate did not come to the Aztecs.

Answer key to Test on Teotihuacan:

1) L 2) T 3) I 4) C 5) O 6) V 7) U 8) D 9) A 10) G

11) E 12) J 13) M 14) B 15) F 16) S 17) N 18) H 19) K 20) P

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INFORMATIONAL HANDOUT ON TEOTIHUACAN

Because the Teotihuacans did not believe in record keeping, they had no written

language. Much of what we know today has been the result of many scientificinvestigations and archeological excavations. The following represents some of

the research for the past century. Not all scientists agree on the dates, so these are

only approximations.

Teotihuacan ---Place where men become gods also called City of thegods

This is believed to be Mexicos first great city

The population varied somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 at itspeak and was said to be the largest city in the world

Destroyed 500 yrs before the conquest (1000 A.D.)

Legend --- Indians told Spanish that the huge bones were of giants whobuilt the pyramid

Spanish told Aztecs

The Aztecs had already been making pilgrimages to this mysterious sitebefore the arrival of the Spanish in 1519

The Aztecs thought that it was a sacred place, perhaps the birth of

civilization took place here

Two gods threw themselves into fire and became god of sun and moon,

thus the monumental pyramids were built

1521 Spanish conquer Aztecs in bloody battle (sad night noche triste

100 B.C. 600 A.D. Teotihuacan flourished

The earliest buildings were constructed in 200 B.C.

Its Golden Ages was probably between A.D. 150 - 450

It had 100,000 people, lot of influence out of Mexico

Exchanged pottery, obsidian (a very hard black mineral used to make

weapons), turquoise

Indians began to build temples

No beasts of burden

Obsidian --- volcanic glass Many potters, jewelers, and craftsmen lived and worked in this region

By A.D. 750 they had destroyed much of the forest with their constructionprojects

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They cut down whole forest to get limestone for construction

The gods became angry with them for their destruction of what they had

given the Teotihuacans

They could no longer live in harmony

Many buildings were systematically burned and destroyed possibly by

invaders in 750

VII century they left Why did they leave? Where did they go?

When there are no records, archeologists need to examine soil, skeletons,

pottery, and any other artifacts that they find to attempt to draw some conclusionsabout a previous civilization.

Few skeletons found

Internal uprisings Droughts lead to malnutrition and famine

Great population decline in the VI century

Weather might have changed their agriculture

Other possibilities: migrations, diseases, war, famine

Goddess of water found face down in front of the pyramid of the moon

CITADEL

15 small isolated pyramids that are part of the Teotihuacan complex

little city fortress, reason for construction not known

Quetzalcoatl --- Quetzal = feathered coatl = serpent

Priests also took name Quetzalcoatl

PYRAMID OF THE FEATHERED SERPENT (Quetzalcoatl)

365 masks on pyramid

Many representations of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered (plumed) serpent

which represented their principal god

Related to calendar

2 gods water flowing river and rain

Fertility pyramid Indians were farmers

Full of color, pinkish red, turquoise, and white (like Greeks used lots of

color) Tlaloc the rain god wears glasses variety of white sea shells

Notice the art form of the snake between each layer --- body and mask ofQuetzalcoatl

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PYRAMID OF THE SUN

Largest pyramid of all of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica

Completed about A.D. 100

The older of the two pyramids

Sun sets exactly in front of it on the day when it reaches its zenith

Theres no noon shadow

Pyramids mark the movement of the stars and sun to help with agriculture

245 meters 66 cms (39 inches = meter, 2 cms. = 1 inch)

Cheops pyramid in Egypt is higher by only 90 cms.

4-story platforms

The Avenue of the Dead

4 sides = 4 cardinal pts. N, S, E, W No temple on the summit

Pyramid of the Moon

is rectangular

built about A.D. 250

constructed to resist tomb raiders

possibly for royal burials

Inclining panels

Used lime to hold it together

Quetzalcoatl Butterfly Palace

Had way of collecting water

May be the residence of priests

Only building with a roof

Quetzal bird is not common to Mexico

Holes there possibly to string up curtains as protection against sun

Anchor animals

Jaguar pyramid with religious paintings

Tongue sticking out --- blood thirsty

How did the Teotihuacanos paint?

Used mineral and vegetable colors

Spider associated only with women

Paradise = music coming out of the mouths

Crying and singing at the same time

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Thousands of murals of high quality artwork These materials are for classroom use only and may not be used for commercial purposes.

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CREATING A TIME LINE

200 B.C. - A. D. 1519

Using the information from the handout, create a time line that will address the

beginning of the Teotihuacan civilization in 200 B.C. until the Spanish conquest

of the Aztecs in 1521.

TEOTIHUACAN - AZTEC TIME LINE

DATE EVENT

200 B.C. Earliest buildings in the Teotihuacan area

1521 noche triste (sad night) and the Spanish conquest of the

Aztecs

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Answer key:

TEOTIHUACAN - AZTEC TIME LINE

DATE EVENT

200 B.C. Earliest buildings in the Teotihuacan area

100 B.C. A.D. 600 Teotihuacan flourishes

A.D. 100 Construction of the Pyramid of the Sun

150-450 Golden Age of Teotihuacan

250 Pyramid of the Moon, the last built of the temples

500s Drought, decline in population

750s Destroyed most of forest with construction projects; city

burned to the ground

1000 Whole civilization destroyed1300 Aztecs discover the mysterious ruins of Teotihuacan

1519 Spanish arrive in Veracruz

1521 noche triste (sad night) and the Spanish conquest of theAztecs

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TEST ON TEOTIHUACAN

Match the description in Column A with the item in Column B

COLUMN A

1. Teotihuacan means __ in

Nhuatl

2. ________ attract thousands of

visitors every year.

3. Tombs of rulers lined this area4. Monument marking

Teotihuacans most sacred spot

5. The Teotihuacan world wascreated in a ______

6. home of the storm god

7. type of society that theTeotihuacans wanted

8. _____ caused natives ofCuicuilco to flee to Teotihuacan

9. to keep their history a secretfrom the world, the people had no

______

10. Mesoamerican civilization with

whom the Teotihuacans traded

11. the natives offered _____ to

ward off the wrath of the gods

12. great surprise that archeologistsfound in the Pyramid of the

Feathered Serpent

13. Aztec ruler who wanted to

unlock Teotihuacans mystery

14. god of culture and learning

15. Spanish conquistador who

landed in Veracruz in 1519

16. The Spanish were looking for

_______, the city of gold.

17. Night of chaos and carnage that

turned the tide for the Spanish in

Mexico

18. one of the tribes that ambushedthe Spanish soldiers

19. For ___ centuries, Teotihuacanwas the dominant power in the

region.

20. Much destruction of _____ led

to the demise of the city

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COLUMN B

A. written language

B. Quetzalcoatl

C. Pyramid of the Sun

D. volcanic eruption

E. human sacrifice

F. Hernn Corts

G. Mayans

H. Tlaxcalans

I. Ave. of the Dead

J. skeletons

K. seven

L. City of the gods

M. Montezuma

N. noche triste

O. cave

P. forests

Q. earthquake

R. five

S. El Dorado

T. summer and winter

solstices

U. Utopia

V. Pyramid of the Moon

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TEOTIHUACAN

Be a super scholar and locate the 16 words in this grid. They may be written left to right,

right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top.

Avenue of the

Dead

captives

Citadela

Cuicuilco

Mesoamerica

Mexico

Montezuma

peaceful

plateau

processions

pyramid

Quetzalcoatl

skeletons

Teotihuacan

Venus

volcano

P L E S N O I S S E C O R P A T

C P T E O T I O M E X C A L T A

A Y M O N T E Z U M A L S K E CN R D N E V A S M O T I E L S I

L A E R Y P L A T E A U P R U R

T M A A D H T O U S E C O U N E

A I C L C S E F E S N I O A E M

O D A E D E H T F O E U N E V A

C S P D T O I M E X I C O T C O

L A T A D N E L I S V O L A U S

A C I T E A U C D O A E P L I E

Z A V I E C L U F E C A E P C MT N E C F L S O A M E R E V U S

E O S M U O I S N O T E L E K S

U I C A L V U C A P T A M O N T

Q N E V E N A C A U H I T O E T These materials are for classroom use only and may not be used for commercial purposes.

Answer key:

P L E S N O I S S E C O R P A T

C P T E O T I O M E X C A L T AA Y M O N T E Z U M A L S K E C

N R D N E V A S M O T I E L S I

L A E R Y P L A T E A U P R U R

T M A A D H T O U S E C O U N E

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A I C L C S E F E S N I O A E M

O D A E D E H T F O E U N E V A

C S P D T O I M E X I C O T C O

L A T A D N E L I S V O L A U SA C I T E A U C D O A E P L I E

Z A V I E C L U F E C A E P C M

T N E C F L S O A M E R E V U S

E O S M U O I S N O T E L E K S

U I C A L V U C A P T A M O N T

Q N E V E N A C A U H I T O E T

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RESOURCES

Barrea, Kathleen and Esther Pasztory. City of the Gods.Archology, May 1993: 59

Carlson, John B. Rise and Fall of the City of the Gods. Archeology,

November 1993:58-69

Grove, David. Archeology. Americas Anthropologist. March 1994: 215

Thorndike, Joseph J. Jr., ed. Mysteries of the Past. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1977

http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~dhixson/teo/teo.html lots of great photos

http://www.ask.com/wiki/Teotihuacan look at all the photos here too

http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/mexico/ New Tomb at Teotihuacan

http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~dhixson/teo/teo.htmlhttp://www.ask.com/wiki/Teotihuacanhttp://www.ask.com/wiki/Teotihuacanhttp://www.archaeology.org/online/features/mexico/http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~dhixson/teo/teo.htmlhttp://www.ask.com/wiki/Teotihuacanhttp://www.archaeology.org/online/features/mexico/