Teotihuacan Essay Research Paper TeotihuacanThe ancient world — страница 3

  • Просмотров 326
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 17
    Кб

moved into the man’s lodging after marriage. This possibly also suggests some sort of gender indifferences as well. (Durham 1997, p 138) These apartment compounds can provide a plethora of information about the life of their occupants. One very important feature determined from analysis of numerous excavated artifacts was that this city was very cosmopolitan and the residents of the compounds were either related by kin or commercial interest. (Coe 1984, p 92) Also, Millon used the dimensions to calculate an estimate of Teotihuacan’s population, which was probably around 125,000 up to 200,000 in its peak. This is quite remarkable since no other city in Mesoamerica had seen such proportions up to that time, and only six other cities worldwide were larger by 600 A.D. (Sabloff,

1981, p 208) Sifting, screening and floatation were employed by team member Emily McClung de Tapia in regards to plant analysis and were practiced by David Starbuck on fauna remains, both providing direct data on the Teotihuacano’s diet at the time. Tapia’s material ranges from about 100-750 A.D. and was collected from the floors of the compounds, as well as being identified in some mural depictions. From the carbonized remains, seeds, fibers, and other remains prove that plants played some sort of role in ancient life, but to what degree each did that will not be known until further research has been conducted. All we can tell is that a wide range of plants were utilized by these people. Starbuck also found interesting finds, but these were primarily skeletal remains of

fish, dogs, deer, waterfowl, and rabbit. The fish bones suggest that these people were exploiting the lakes to the south, as well as the remains of the fowl and turtles. The excavations also uncovered many remains within numerous compounds that suggest a commercial relation as well. One of the most significant was that it had a nearby source of obsidian. (Sabloff 1997, p62) This volcanic rock, found only in the highland areas containing volcanoes, was used primarily to make tools and weapons. This was very valuable at the time and control over the sources would provide great power and source of a valuable trade item. There are two main kinds of obsidian, gray and green. Of the studies preformed on artifacts through modern techniques like trace analysis, numerous sources have been

identified in Guatemala and Mexico. The gray was more common and came from more than 15 identified sources. Green obsidian was found to have only one source, Pachuca, Hidalgo, making it much more desirable and proved to be a sign of higher status individuals. (Weaver 1981, p 205) Bibliography (Weaver 1981, p 205)(Sabloff 1997, p62)