Years to Remember: Another Look at Teotihuacan’s Calendrical Signs

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Teotihuacan: Multidisciplinary Research on Mesoamerica's Classic Metropolis" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We offer a new look at a series of carved monuments and examples of rock art from Classic Teotihuacan culture (ca. AD 100–500) of highland central Mexico, all of which bear single calendrical dates in the 260-day calendar. Monuments such as those of Cerro Xoconoch and the Plaza de las Columnas serve as records of particular years, in the Teotihuacan year-bearer system. While the events that transpired on these dates remain unknown, a comparison with the Epiclassic and Late Postclassic cultures of central Mexico indicate that they could have served to memorialize accessions, the dedication of buildings, or other important state-level events. We find ample evidence for an analogous tradition, that of Mexica, which is distinguished for its preference for recording and celebrating specific years in sculpture, as well as in rock art. In addition to the historical events cued by isolated year dates, we also examine evidence of ritual activities centered on the representations of other calendrical dates. We conclude by suggesting that the famous Zapotec “stela” from Teotihuacan’s Oaxaca barrio conforms to an adaptation of the predominant Teotihuacan tradition.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Teotihuacan: Multidisciplinary Research on Mesoamerica's Classic Metropolis

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32120