Living in the ruins of the city of Teotihuacan
The collapse of the ancient city of Teotihuacan (550-650 CE) is one of the most important moments in Mesoamerican archaeology. This process causes cultural and sociopolitical changes along this extensive territory. Rather than looking for the reasons behind the great crisis that befell this culture, this project focuses on the moment in which the process of collapse was fully accomplished. The aim is to understand the abandoned city of Teotihuacan by itself and how the city was instrumentalized, interpreted, and coded in a quite different sociocultural and economic system by its new settlers.
The main goal of the project is to understand the perception of and living in the “abandoned” city of Teotihuacan from the Epiclassic period (650-900 CE) to the Early Colonial times. We will also approach other questions such as: how do you live in an abandoned city?; how are the different ethnic groups related to each other?; how are the elements of a lost culture perceived by non-original groups?; which are the areas and facilities/infrastructures occupied or re-used?
This project proposes a multidisciplinary approach using archaeology, ethnohistory, and new technologies such as GIS or 3D visualization. Fieldwork will be developed in different areas of the site that have a long occupation sequence.
Participants: Natalia Moragas Segura (PI) (ERAAUB), Alessandra Pecci (PI) (ERAAUB), Maria Torras Freixa (Gerda Henkel Foundation), Annabel Villalonga Gordaliza (UAB), Miquel Creus Brunat (ERAAUB, Gerda Henkel Foundation), Meztli Grajales (ERAAUB), Cristina Bosque (UNAM), Luís Barba (Laboratorio de Prospección Arqueológica, UNAM).
Funding: Gerda Henkel Foundation, Special programme “Lost Cities. Perception of and living with abandoned cities in the cultures of the world” for 36 months (March, 2021-March, 2024).
