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Teotihuacan: Ciudadela

When the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon were completed, the locus of construction at Teotihuacan shifted to the southern end of the Street of the Dead, where a complex called the Ciudadela—a sunken plaza large enough to hold most of the city's inhabitants—was centered on the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. Completed in the early third century A.D., the pyramid is flanked by two apartment compounds where the city's rulers may have lived. The initial construction phase of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent appears to have been marked by a mass burial. Grave pits containing some 200 individuals in and around the pyramid's core were discovered in the late 1980s. Presumed to be warriors, the militaristic connotations have influenced interpretations of the building's exterior. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent may have been the first use of the architectural profile known as talud-tablero at Teotihuacan. In talud-tablero, a rectangular panel (the tablero) sits atop a sloping panel (the talud). Both surfaces could be decorated, most often with mural painting. This distinctive profile dominates the architecture of the entire site, and is taken as a marker of Teotihuacan influence when it appears in other locations throughout Mesoamerica. The balustrade and tableros of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent feature large tenoned serpent heads with low-relief bodies upon which elaborate mosaic headdresses appear at intervals. The headdresses, with their prominent eyes and fangs, were integral to military iconography at Teotihuacan and were similarly used throughout Mesoamerica.

The initial construction phase of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent appears to have been marked by a mass burial.

Related

Cited Works of Art or Images (3)

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• 
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Timelines (4)

• Maya Area, 1–500 a.d.
• Mexic, 1–500 a.d.
• Mexico, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• Mexico, 500–1000 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (5)

• Tenochtitlan
• Tenochtitlan: Templo Mayor
• Teotihuacan
• Teotihuacan: Mural Painting
• Teotihuacan: Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon

Other Thematic Essays (12)

• Cerro Sechin
• Cerro Sechin: Stone Sculpture
• La Venta
• La Venta: Sacred Architecture
• La Venta: Stone Sculpture
• Monte Alban
• Monte Alban: Sacred Architecture
• Monte Alban: Stone Sculpture
• The Year One
• Tikal
• Tikal: Sacred Architecture
• Tikal: Stone Sculpture

Maps (2)

• Mesoamerica and Central America, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.
• World, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.

Index Terms (8)

Art Movement/Style

• Teotihuacan Art of the Americas

Geography/Place

• Mexico

Object

• Altarpiece
• Temple Architecture from Central America

Subject Matter/Theme

• Archaeology from Central America
• Funerary Art
• Funerary Art from Central America
• Indigenous Religions

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Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Department of AAOA. "Teotihuacan: Ciudadela". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/teot3/hd_teot3.htm (October 2001) Further Reading Berrin, Kathleen, and Esther Pasztory Teotihuacan: Art from the City of the Gods. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1993. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)