Means, Motive, and Opportunity: Use of the Sun Pyramid Cave at Teotihuacan Post Termination

Author(s): Rebecca Sload

Year: 2018

Summary

Ceramics and radiocarbon dates indicate that Teotihuacanos ceased using the cave beneath the Sun Pyramid around the middle of the third century CE, at a time when the city was only just entering its "Classic" period florescence. A reverential termination seems quite likely. Evidence also indicates that post termination use of the cave occurred. As there were approximately 1700 years in between cessation of initial use and modern discovery of the cave in 1974, this paper explores the question of when reentry could have occurred. What evidence constrains the time frame? Could Teotihuacanos have reentered? As suggested by ethno-historical sources, could Aztecs have used the cave? I consider means, motive, and opportunity.

Cite this Record

Means, Motive, and Opportunity: Use of the Sun Pyramid Cave at Teotihuacan Post Termination. Rebecca Sload. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 444009)

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Keywords

General
Caves and Rockshelters • Highland Mesoamerica: Classic • Ritual

Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica: Central Mexico

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 18.48 ; max long: -94.087; max lat: 23.161 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 18866