Teotenango
Teotenango ( Náhuatl : real, divine place of the fortress wall) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Mexican state of México around 22 kilometers south of the state capital Toluca and directly on the western edge of the city of Tenango de Arista , formerly Tenango del Valle. Before the Spanish conquest, the inhabitants were the Matlatzinca belonging to the Otomí .
location
The excavation site is located on a high and wide lava field of a small volcano about 100 meters above the surrounding plain and the modern site. After the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century, it was the official policy of the state and the church to relocate the population from hard-to-reach places to more conveniently located and controllable places. This also happened in this case, whereby the name was carried over to the new settlement as usual. The old settlement was called "the real Tenango" to distinguish it. The area of the old settlement became an agricultural area from which individual truncated pyramids and terrace walls protruded only with difficulty.
excavation
In the 1970s, the Mexican archaeologist Román Piña Chan carried out a large-scale excavation with funds from the state, the aim of which was apparently primarily to reconstruct the ceremonial section of the old settlement out of tourist interests, while the housing estate in the south was not explored. The reconstruction process consisted of making shallow search cuts in the direction of terrain levels delimited by modern quarry stone walls. As soon as these search cuts hit the mostly only one or two rows of stones of stairs or slope walls, these were built up until the slope walls and stairs met. Further evidence was mostly not available. Therefore the reconstruction with numerous stairs and embankments gives a very sterile impression. A more extensive publication of the excavation and reconstruction is still missing today.
buildings
One enters the zone via a street that was newly laid out during the excavations and is only allowed for pedestrians, which ends at the foot of the huge two-tier retaining and defensive wall that has only been exposed and reconstructed at this point. A brick staircase leads to the area of the old city. The excavation area was divided into five areas, designated by the letters A through E.
Conjunto A
Above the access stairs is the large, irregularly shaped plaza, at the eastern end of which there is a pyramid with three steps in the "tablero-talud" style. The staircase with stringers on the west side leads to a landing on which a smaller structure consisting of two steps lies, this time with a considerably narrower staircase. The back of the pyramid does not seem to have originally been tiered. In front of the pyramid is a long, low plinth which, like the others of this type, probably supported buildings made of perishable material.
Conjunto B
This area is located south of the aforementioned on a slightly higher level and can be reached by stairs. It is mainly formed by a plaza that is bordered by pyramids on the east and south sides. These pyramids also have three steps, above which there is a non-reconstructible component, probably made up of two steps. Only the front of the southern pyramid has also been reconstructed. The low plinths for buildings that have not been preserved can also be found at this level.
Conjunto D
This complex forms the north-western part of the excavated area and is characterized by a large block of wall 120 meters in length.
Conjunto E.
The ball playground forms the center of this area. The floor plan and construction of the ball court correspond to the pattern in central Mexico with very gently sloping side surfaces and low reflective walls. Farther to the west is a low-walled complex of a residential area that is one of the oldest in the settlement.
At the east end of the ball court is a temazcal , of which only low wall remains have been preserved.
Monuments
Teotenango has a small number of sculptures. Most of them are sculptures on the natural rock. The best known is the relief of a jaguar eating something like a heart. To the left of the jaguar is the date of the year 2 rabbits, to the right, in a different writing style, the (day?) Date 9 house. At the north-western end of the wall block of Conjunto D is a sculpture of a snake, also carved out of the rock. A little further to the west is the “Calle de la Randa”, a natural ravine in which the eponymous sculpture of a frog is located. A unique stele with calendar characters can be seen in the local museum.
See also
literature
- inah.gob.mx: Zona Arqueológica de Teotenango.
Coordinates: 19 ° 6 ′ 30 ″ N , 99 ° 35 ′ 49 ″ W.