Plaza of the Columns at Teotihuacan: Scope, Goals and Expectations of a New International Project

Summary

Summer 2015, the Plaza of the Columns Project began a multi-year collaborative investigation of two large residential/ceremonial complexes that remained unexplored at Teotihuacan’s ceremonial core: Plaza of the Columns and its symmetric counterpart called Plaza North of the Sun Pyramid. The former comprises the largest three-temple complex with the fourth highest pyramid, a main plaza (11,408 m2) larger than the Sun Pyramid plaza, and deep occupational layers that could provide information about Teotihuacan’s urban foundation. These qualities make this set of complexes a primary candidate to directly addresses some of the unresolved questions about Teotihuacan: how was the Teotihuacan state governance organized, and how did this vary over time? The project aims to define the Plaza of the Columns complex as a palace through closely delimiting the architectural complexes, what activities took place in these distinct areas, and who resided in this exclusive compounds. Based on a 120 Km2 LiDAR map our team recently created, the project’s first season focused on elaborating a three dimensional detailed map of the area under investigation, defining the architectural features and extent of the complex through establishing a dynamic collaborative team integrating students and researchers from Mexico, United States and Japan.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• The Rise and Decline of Teotihuacan: Urbanism, Daily Life, and Regional Relations through Time

Keywords

Spatial Coverage