Ancient Mesoamerica

http://journals.cambridge.org/ATM

Additional services for Ancient Mesoamerica:

Email alerts: Click here

Subscriptions: Click here
Commercial reprints: Click here
Terms of use : Click here

The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project at Teotihuacan: A Preliminary Report

Rubén Cabrera Castro, Saburo Sugiyama and George L. Cowgill

Ancient Mesoamerica / Volume 2 / Issue 01 / March 1991, pp 77 - 92

DOI: 10.1017/S0956536100000407, Published online: 10 October 2008

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0956536100000407

How to cite this article:

Rubén Cabrera Castro, Saburo Sugiyama and George L. Cowgill (1991). The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project at
Teotihuacan: A Preliminary Report. Ancient Mesoamerica, 2, pp 77-92 doi:10.1017/S0956536100000407

Request Permissions : Click here

Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/ATM, IP address: 147.188.128.74 on 02 Jun 2015

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2 (1991), 77-92
Copyright © 1991 Cambridge University Press. Printed in the U.S.A.

THE TEMPLO DE QUETZALCOATL

PROJECT AT TEOTIHUACAN
A Preliminary Report

Ruben Cabrera Castro,a Saburo Sugiyama,b and George L. Cowgill b

a
lnstituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Cordoba 45, Mexico, D.F.
b
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA

Abstract

The Feathered Serpent Pyramid (Temple of Quetzalcoatl) was built in a single episode involving the sacrifice of around 200
individuals, in Miccaotli or Early Tlamimilolpa times. Most were males with military gear. Many had shell collars with
pendants of imitation human jaws made of worked shell teeth set in stucco; rarely were real jaws used. At the center, 20
individuals (probably all males) were buried with very rich offerings including greenstone beads, earspools, nose pendants,
figurines, and strange conical objects; obsidian blades and figurines; shells; and remains of wood and probable textiles. We
also explored a looters' tunnel that had severely disturbed two large pits under the pyramid; in one of these an individual
of exceptional importance may have been buried. Preliminary analysis of material from tests in the platform that later
obscured the front of the pyramid suggests that it may have been built as much as two centuries after the pyramid. It
covered another large pit associated with the pyramid, also looted.

After more than a century of archaeological work, a very large
proportion of Teotihuacan remains unexcavated. Excavation
alone rarely leads directly to answers to important questions,
but it is necessary in many cases, and the amount that remains
unexcavated is one reason why many aspects of Teotihuacan so-
ciety remain poorly understood. Among other things, relatively
little work has been done at some of the most important build-
ings in the city since early in this century. One example is the
great pyramid traditionally known as the Temple of Quetzal-
coatl. Following the authors in Berrin (1988), we will refer to
the structure as the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, because this
term begs fewer questions about continuities between Teotihu-
acan and sixteenth-century Mesoamerica. This pyramid, which
measures about 65 by 65 m at the base and was originally some
20 m high, is the third largest in the city. It is near the center
of the Ciudadela; a great rectangular enclosure 400 m on a side,
widely regarded as the central political and symbolic focus of
the city (e.g., Cowgill 1983; R. Millon 1981, 1988a). The pyr-
amid is flanked by two apartment complexes within the
Ciudadela, the North and South Palaces, which were probably
occupied by heads of the Teotihuacan state.
From 1918 to 1922, Ignacio Marquina, under the direction
of Manuel Gamio, conducted the first extensive scientific exca-
vations in the Ciudadela, uncovering and restoring large parts
of its great surrounding platforms, many of the pyramids atop
these platforms, and limited parts of the palaces; and investi-
gating parts of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid (Gamio 1922).
Their work made the Ciudadela, for its time, one of the most
extensively excavated and studied structures at Teotihuacan.
77
Before 1918, the facades of the north, east, and south sides
of the pyramid had collapsed, and nothing was visible but a
shapeless, grassy mound. Gamio and Marquina discovered the
famed western (front) facade, on which great three-dimensional
serpent heads alternate with a more puzzling figure (Lopez, Lo-
pez, and Sugiyama 1991; Sugiyama 1989b, 1991). This facade
had been preserved by a large tiered platform (the Plataforma
Adosada) built up against the west face, mostly, but not en-
tirely, obscuring the earlier pyramid. Gamio and Marquina
found remains of some burials and offerings including shell and
greenstone atop the pyramid. They dug test soundings to a
depth of 9 m, but did not resolve questions about the interior
of the pyramid or the possible existence of earlier structures
within it.
After the 1920s, archaeologists turned their attention to
other parts of Teotihuacan, and for a long time almost noth-
ing further was done in the Ciudadela except for a few small-
scale excavations, although these made some very significant
finds of burials and offerings (Dosal 1925; Perez 1939).
Meanwhile, great advances were made in the study of struc-
tures elsewhere at Teotihuacan, including tunnels into the Sun
Pyramid by Gamio and later by Noguera, Vaillant, and others
(Millon, Drewitt, and Bennyhoff 1965), and excavations in res-
idences spanning a wide range from the palatial to the very
modest (e.g., Armillas 1944, 1945; Linne 1934, 1942; Sejourne
1959, 1966a, 1966b, 1966c). In the 1960s extensive clearing and
restoration of structures by the Instituto Nacional de Antropo-
logia e Historia (INAH) (Bernal 1963; Acosta 1964; Matos
1980), intensive survey and test excavations within the city di-
78
rected by R. Millon (1973, 1981; Cowgill, Altschul, and Sload
1984; Millon, Drewitt, and Cowgill 1973), and the settlement
survey of the Basin of Mexico directed by Sanders (Sanders
1981; Sanders, Parsons, and Santley 1979) provided a broad
historical and descriptive context for Teotihuacan. The joint re-
sult of all these projects was a transformation in our under-
standing of the city. However, none of these projects carried
out large-scale excavations at the Ciudadela, although Millon
carried out some important test excavations, in addition to
mapping and surface collecting, and one of his students con-
ducted an intensive reexamination and analysis of all visible ar-
chitectural evidence (Drucker 1974).
By the late 1970s a number of points about Teotihuacan
seemed clear. During the Patlachique ceramic phase (tentatively
dated to about the last century B.C.) Teotihuacan grew very rap-
idly, and by the Tzacualli phase (roughly the first century and
a half A.D.) it had become a metropolis that dominated the en-
tire Basin of Mexico. By the end of that phase the immense Sun
Pyramid had largely been completed and numerous other tem-
ple complexes existed, many of them along a great, broad cer-
emonial way, the so-called Avenue of the Dead (R. Millon
1981). Various lines of evidence, including the scale of monu-
mental building and the drastic rearrangement of Basin of Mex-
ico population attested by Sanders, Parsons, and Santley (1979),
implied a leadership with exceptional power at this early time.
Teotihuacan was already a large urban site, very different from
the nearly empty ceremonial center that earlier archaeologists
had imagined. Religion undoubtedly was of enormous impor-
tance throughout the life of the city, but it was increasingly
apparent that military themes were prominently (although
obliquely) represented in the city's art during later periods (e.g.,
C. Millon 1973), and it no longer seemed apt to characterize the
society as "theocratic." Because virtually no representational art
from earlier periods at Teotihuacan is known, it was difficult
to say whether warfare had been less important earlier.
Thus, by the end of the 1970s, work at the Ciudadela had
lagged far behind that in many other parts of Teotihuacan. In
general, we had more data about the intermediate and low-sta-
tus sectors of the society than about those at the highest level.
History is not merely an account of the doings of the powerful
and mighty, and an adequate understanding of Teotihuacan,
whether in historical or more social scientific terms, must pay
attention to nonelite elements of the society. Nevertheless, we
still know desperately little about the elite of Teotihuacan, and
we need to remedy this deficiency. Given the political and reli-
gious significance of the Ciudadela, the scarcity of studies carried
out there using modern techniques had become an increasingly
troublesome impediment to efforts to reconstruct Teotihuacan's
history, especially its political aspects (e.g., Cowgill 1983; Pasz-
tory 1988; R. Millon 1981, 1988a, 1988b). Notable difficulties
included the absence of reliable information about possible ear-
lier structures within the pyramid, the chronology of its con-
struction, and later events including the construction of the
Plataforma Adosada and apparent episodes of intentional dam-
age to the pyramid (Sugiyama 1989a). In addition, some re-
markable discoveries in the early 1980s suggested that more
spectacular discoveries were to be found. The expectation of
sensational finds was in itself a further incentive for excavation,
but one that did not conflict with a concern for theoretical
relevance.
Cabrera C , Sugiyama, and Cowgill
WORK AT THE CIUDADELA SINCE
GAMIO AND MARQUINA
Dosal (1925) found burials of single individuals, presumably
sacrificed, in pits outside each of the four corners of the pyra-
mid (Figure 1). In 1939 Perez excavated at the foot of the stair-
way of the pyramid, and dug a pit and extended a tunnel under
the stairway at the foot of the Plataforma Adosada (Perez
1939). Both excavations revealed unusually rich offerings, in-
cluding several kinds of worked marine shells; projectile points
and human and serpent figurines of chipped obsidian; slate
disks with traces of pyrite (believed to be mirrors); greenstone
objects (at least some of them jadeite), including human figu-
rines, beads, and earspools; and fragments of human bones, in-
cluding an upper incisor with pyrite inlay. These finds and
possible evidence of an earlier structure covered by the Feath-
ered Serpent Pyramid were sketchily reported by Rubin de la
Borbolla (1947).
Ceramic evidence from Test Excavation 19 of the Teotihu-
acan Mapping Project indicated that the great surrounding plat-
forms of the Ciudadela were built a short time later than the
Sun Pyramid, during the Miccaotli phase (approximately the
last half of the second century A.D.) (Rattray 1981), and later
excavations of the Proyecto Arqueologico Teotihuacan (80-82)
confirm that at least the greater part of these platforms was
built as a single operation (Jarquin and Martinez 1982).
Evidence for dating the Feathered Serpent Pyramid was more
indirect, but it was pretty clearly built not long after the sur-
rounding platforms of the Ciudadela, since it was stratigraphi-
cally related to the North and South Palaces (R. Millon,
personal communication), and Mapping Project test excava-
tions in the South Palace and the transverse platform that sep-
arates the palace from the main plaza of the Ciudadela (TE 25a
and 25b) had shown that early palace construction phases dated
to the Early Tlamimilolpa phase (estimated by Millon to have
lasted from about A.D. 200 to 300).
In 1980-1982 an INAH project directed by Cabrera, in ad-
dition to extensive work in other parts of Teotihuacan, exca-
vated the South and North Palaces (Cabrera et al. 1982a,
1982b) and dug exploratory trenches in the exterior of the pyr-
amid (Cabrera and Sugiyama 1982). Between 1983 and 1984, in
further INAH work by Cabrera and Sugiyama, three burial pits
were found near the southern edge of the pyramid, dug into the
consolidated volcanic ash subsoil (tepetate) and partially cov-
ered by the north wall of the South Palace (Sugiyama 1985a,
1985b, 1989a). The largest of these pits, Burial 190, was about
8 m long, running east-west, centered on the north-south cen-
tral axis of the pyramid (Figure 1). It contained 18 individuals,
all males. Included were 169 obsidian projectile points, over
4,000 pieces of worked shell, and a number of imitation human
upper jaws (maxillae) consisting of teeth carved from shell, as
well as several real maxillae and mandibles. Nothing like this
had ever been reported from Teotihuacan before. Slate disks,
resembling objects worn by armed figures in Teotihuacan
murals, by monumental stone carvings of soldiers at Tula, and
by Aztec soldiers (called tezcacuitlapilli in Nahuatl) were found
behind the pelves of several individuals. The arms of many in-
dividuals were located behind their backs and crossed at the
wrists in a position that implies that their hands had been tied.
The evidence strongly suggests that these were people with mil-
The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project
(PIT I) Q
PITS
3 —i»»a--a» TUNNEL
] — LOOTERS' TUNNEL
\~ANCIENT PIT
\ — IURIAL WITHOUT PIT
I TEST EXCAVATION
Figure 1 . General plan of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid showing areas excavated, location of burials mentioned in the text, and
the route of the looters' tunnel.
itary associations who had been sacrificed (Sugiyama 1985a,
1985b, 1989a). Although more or less fallen over when discov-
ered, it appears that they had originally been placed in seated
positions facing away from the pyramid, as if to guard it and
its contents.
At short distances east and west of this large pit, two smaller
pits were found, each containing a single individual with different
offerings. The one on the east (Burial 153) was apparently a fe-
male. Offerings were limited to 1,606 small worked shells. Burial
203 on the west was male. Offerings included nine large bifacial
obsidian projectile points (similar to those in Burial 190) and
greenstone beads, earspools, and a "butterfly" nose pendant.
Teeth or other worked shells were not found in Burial 203.
Stratigraphic evidence shows that all these pits pertain to the
time when the pyramid was constructed (Sugiyama 1985a,
1985b, 1989a). A few individual sacrificial burials had previ-
ously been reported from Teotihuacan, such as the 16 child bu-
rials associated with the four corners of the Sun Pyramid
reported by Batres (Millon, Drewitt, and Bennyhoff 1965:36),
but this was the first discovery of a large, multiple sacrificial bu-
rial at Teotihuacan.
Another single individual was found on the north side of the
pyramid in 1982, in a location mirroring that of Burial 153 on
the south side. Symmetry considerations strongly suggested that
another multiple burial similar to Burial 190 would be found on
the north side (Sugiyama 1985a, 1985b). Independent work by
Martinez and Jarquin in 1986 discovered such a burial, with an-
79
BUR. FOUND IN 1925
T ^ EX a B B B S S
other 18 sacrificed individuals, with associated materials gen-
erally similar to those in Burial 190 (Mercado Rojano 1987;
Serrano and Martinez 1987; Sugiyama 1989a: 104-105).
THE 1988-1989 EXCAVATIONS
In 1988-1989 we conducted further excavations on the east side
of the pyramid (the one side not previously explored) and dug
a tunnel into the center of the pyramid itself. Other test exca-
vations were made in and near the Plataforma Adosada and the
1939 excavations of Caso and Perez were reopened and ex-
tended. This fieldwork was carried out as a project of INAH,
under the direction of Cabrera, with Cowgill as codirector.
Sugiyama served as principal assistant. Physical anthropolog-
ical studies were under the direction of Dr. Carlos Serrano of
the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Funding for
fieldwork was principally from the National Geographic Soci-
ety, and data analysis is being largely supported by the National
Endowment for the Humanities, with additional funding from
the Arizona State University Foundation and other sources.
Our principal objectives were to see whether additional burials
were associated with the pyramid, including perhaps some with
other types of grave goods, to gain information about possible
earlier structures within the pyramid, to see whether the pyra-
mid was the tomb of an exceptional individual, and to learn
more about postconstruction events. Preliminary reports have
80
been published in Mexico (Cabrera et al. 1989; Cabrera, Cow-
gill, and Sugiyama 1990).
Our work has brought the total of known sacrificed individ-
uals associated with the Feathered Serpent Pyramid to 113 com-
plete skeletons, in addition to the fragmentary remains of several
more individuals. Much of the pyramid and its surroundings re-
mains unexcavated, and a conservative estimate of the total sac-
rificed there in a single episode is around 200, including those
in burials within and outside the pyramid. Many are associated
with weapons and were probably sacrificed soldiers. Most of
these were buried wearing collars of cut-shell plaques from
which imitation human maxillae were suspended. In a few
cases, real human maxillae were used. Many were found with
their hands behind their backs and crossed at the wrists, rarely
with preserved bits of fiber that seem to be remains of binding
material, and it is clear that they had been bound. Although de-
finitive physical anthropological studies have not been com-
pleted, no signs of recent trauma have been discovered on the
bones, and it is not clear how the victims met their death.
Within the pyramid, the contents of several burials were
quite different from those we identify as soldiers, reflecting dif-
ferent social and/or ritual roles and probably higher status of
the occupants.
Excavations were divided into three broad fronts. Front A,
directed by Cabrera, worked on the east side of the pyramid,
where no previous scientific excavation had taken place. Front
B, directed by Cowgill, conducted a variety of smaller excava-
tions addressed to specific questions outside the Feathered Ser-
pent Pyramid and in and near the Plataforma Adosada. Front
C was supervised by Sugiyama, under the direction and direct
responsibility of Cabrera and Cowgill. It consisted of a tunnel
into the pyramid itself.
We now turn to a preliminary account of findings on each
of these fronts, starting with A, then C, and ending with B.
Note that burials were numbered in the order of their discov-
ery, from 1 through 15, throughout the project, without regard
to front. A single number was assigned to each multiple burial
and specific individuals were designated by a letter. Thus, in-
dividual 5-A is the first individual in Burial 5. Ancient pits
(fosas) and modern excavations (pozos and calas) were num-
bered separately in each front.
THE EAST SIDE OF THE PYRAMID (FRONT A)
On the east side, in work directed by Cabrera, we found about
4 m of debris from the collapse of the pyramid, including many
fragments of huge carved stones similar to those known from
the other three sides. Ceramics in this debris are predominantly
of Teotihuacan age, including a significant number that are
Xolalpan or later. Post-Teotihuacan sherds (Coyotlatelco,
Mazapan, and Aztec) and Colonial-to-recent sherds are present,
but scarce. Surprisingly, a small percentage of sherds appear to
be kiln furniture, suggesting pottery production in the vicinity,
perhaps in Colonial times.
Under this debris were three Teotihuacan concrete floors.
Preliminary analysis of ceramics from the 1988 season indicates
that the upper two floors date to Xolalpan or possibly Metepec
times, while the third (lowest) floor is not later than Tlamimi-
lolpa. A number of pits dug into tepetate were found under
Floor 3, most of them sealed by that floor.
Cabrera C , Sugiyama, and Cowgill
Just east of the base of the pyramid we found a small pit in
tepetate that contained Burial 3 (Figure 1), apparently a single
individual. It had been severely disturbed by a problematic
much later structure, perhaps an unfinished noria (cistern)
which had penetrated the floors and reached this pit. However,
enough material remained in situ to suggest that perhaps the
hands had been joined, seemingly tied like so many of the
others.
East of Burial 3, under the lowest of the Teotihuacan floors,
was a very long, narrow, and shallow east-west pit in the tepe-
tate, about 15 m long, but less than 1 m wide, with almost no
surviving contents except two conch shells and the remains of
a charred corn cob.
In 1988 a pair of north-south pits were found, placed sym-
metrically on each side of the long narrow pit, Burials 5 and 6
(Figure 1). Each was about 5 m long and held the well-preserved
remains of nine individuals. The layout and accompanying ma-
terials were very similar to those in the multiple burials on the
south and north sides of the pyramid, including numerous large
and some small obsidian projectile points, great quantities of
small worked-shell platelets (mostly reddish) that formed multi-
strand collars, and other shell (white) worked into imitation
teeth. Many of these had evidently been set in stucco (of which
only fragments survived) to form imitation maxillae. Most or
all of these individuals had slate disks beneath the pelvis at the
level of the coccyx.
Preliminary analysis of these skeletons by the project phys-
ical anthropologists indicates that they are male, varying from
20 to 40 years in age at death. Some exhibit cranial deforma-
tion, and several have dental inlays and/or cosmetic tooth fil-
ing. The bodies were found lying on their backs, heads along
the west side —the side closest to the pyramid. The pits are not
wide enough for bodies to have been extended across them, and
the legs of the skeletons are somewhat flexed. Once again, fore-
arms were found under the body, crossed at the wrists or with
hands together.
One individual in the northern pit, 5-H, second from the
northern end, was unusual in several respects. In place of imi-
tation maxillae, he was buried with a great collar from which
depended nine real human maxillae (Figure 2, individual on the
left). He exhibits pronounced cranial deformation, while defor-
mation is moderate in most other well-preserved crania associ-
ated with the pyramid. It is our impression that his build is
unusually gracile compared to that of most of the sacrificed in-
dividuals. He may have been of different origin, different sta-
tus, or both. The corresponding skeleton in the pit on the south
side of the central axis, 6-H, is also unusual but in a different
way. He had associated shell teeth imitating maxillae of canids,
possibly coyotes or dogs.
Some sherds were incorporated in the fill of the pits, but the
only possible ceramic offering consisted of large fragments of
a nondescript plain, burnished beaker, hard to date but perhaps
of Tlamimilolpa age, found in Burial 6.
In 1989 two more burial pits were found, east of and smaller
than the pits found in 1988, and located symmetrically north
and south of the central east-west axis of the pyramid. Each
held four individuals, Burials 10 and 11 (Figure 3). They were
generally younger than those in Burials 5 and 6 and were ac-
companied by poorer furnishings, including single strands of
beads made of worked shell, small earspools of shell and other
 The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project
Figure 2 . Two individuals from Burial 5 on the east side of the pyramid.
The individual on the left wears a collar from which nine human maxillae
are suspended.
material, possibly stuccoed wood, and less abundant obsidian
projectile points. Again, because of the width of the pits (av-
eraging around 1.45 m) the legs were semiflexed. Bodies were
on their backs with heads toward the pyramid, and hands be-
hind the back. Possibly all are female, although project phys-
ical anthropologists have not yet established sex with certainty
in all cases. These persons were surely also sacrificed, but they
apparently were of lower status than those in Burials 5 and 6.
Further to the east, several other much smaller pits in tepe-
tate were found under Floor 3. A few had fragmentary remains
of pottery vessels, but in general the contents were few and
more suggestive of refuse than offerings. Also under Floor 3
were isolated small parts of three individuals, Burials 7, 8, and
9. Probably these pits and burials are unrelated to the pyramid
and its dedicatory sacrifices.
FRONT C
The Front C excavations were conducted in the interior of the
base of the pyramid. They were planned and supervised by
Sugiyama, under the responsibility of Cabrera and Cowgill.
Their principal objectives were (1) to investigate the possibility
that additional interments might be discovered under the tem-
81
Figure 3 . Burial 10 discovered on the east side of the pyramid. Note that
all four individuals clearly have their forearms crossed behind their bodies
as if they had been bound at the wrists.
pie structure which would relate to the burials discovered dur-
ing previous excavations around the base of the pyramid
(specifically, there were reasons to suspect that an important
component of the burial complex might be found at the geomet-
ric center of the pyramid base), (2) to verify the existence of ear-
lier structures at the same location (Rubin de la Borbolla 1947),
(3) to acquire information regarding construction techniques,
and (4) to gather additional artifactual materials which might
help to date the structure more exactly.
The Excavation of the South Tunnel
The initial excavation plan involved tunneling into the base of
the platform starting at the center point of the south face at the
level of the tepetate upon which the pyramid foundations were
prepared. From that point, tunneling operations proceeded
northward along the central north-south axis of the structure.
As our tunnel advanced, it was initially consolidated with
wooden beams and planks. Subsequently these were replaced
with reinforced concrete pillars supporting steel rails on which
concrete cross-slabs were placed, since it was our original inten-
tion to leave our tunnel open for the use of future researchers.
These operations revealed that the pyramid fill was homoge-
neous throughout. Numerous unfaced, roughly made walls of
stone in mud mortar strengthened with plant material ran
north-south and east-west, intersecting to form cells, usually
somewhat irregular, which had then been filled with more irreg-
ular stones of varying sizes, also interspersed with a mud
preparation.
Interior architectural features encountered by excavation in-
cluded two walled burial chambers, which were evidently un-
roofed, as they were completely filled with the same rubble and
mud used to form the pyramid itself. The first of these (Burial
2) was located 10 m inside, and was bounded on all four sides
by vertical walls made of stone and mud mortar (Figure 1). It
Jacked an entrance. The walls, which were between 1.0 and 1.3 m
high, stood on the edges of a long pit whose overall dimensions
were 7.8 m long (east-west) by 1.5 m wide (north-south) by 20
82
to 30 cm deep. Architectural data related to the burial suggest
that the interment was carried out at the time pyramid construc-
tion was initiated and the following sequence is proposed: (1)
excavation of the pit in tepetate, (2) construction of the north-
ern and southern walls, followed by the eastern and western
walls, (3) placement of bodies, (4) covering the bodies by fill-
ing in the space defined by the four walls with rubble and mud,
(5) capping the "chamber" fill with a compact mud layer at the
upper limit of the walls, and (6) continuation of the filling pro-
cess at higher levels for construction of the pyramid itself.
Underneath the fill in the chamber were the remains of eight
individuals arranged in the shallow pit dug into the tepetate.
Owing to the magnitude of damage to the bones and the young
age of some individuals, not all sex and age determinations are
certain. However, on the basis of field observations, the eight
individuals were most likely all males, young adults or sub-
adults, ranging in age from 10 to 25 years. In those cases in
which position could be determined, individuals were in flexed
position with their heads the part closest to the center of the
pyramid. Some of the individuals were found with the arms and
hands positioned as if their hands had been tied behind their
backs. Offerings associated with this multiple burial were pro-
jectile points, shell disks, and shell beads.
A second, very similar but longer tomb chamber (Burial 4)
was encountered at 13.5 m north from the tunnel entrance. It
was at least 18 m long by 1.5 m wide, with walls 1.2 to 1.3 m
high, on the edges of a pit 20 to 40 cm deep. Wall construction
and conditions inside the chamber were similar to those of Bu-
rial 2. The character of the burial, however, was different from
that of Burial 2 in some important aspects. Eighteen individu-
als, similarly positioned with their heads toward the center, were
accompanied by substantially richer offerings, including projec-
tile points, 18 slate disks (one per individual), shell beads (some
in the form of human teeth), and human and canid jaw bones.
The latter include several human maxillae forming a necklace
for one individual, and several badly preserved animal jaw
bones, whose exact number has yet to be determined, forming
the necklace of another individual. The grave-good assemblage
appears to be a somewhat standardized one, as other burials as-
sociated with the Feathered Serpent Pyramid yielded similar
combinations of offerings. Nonetheless, some interesting dif-
ferences in the quality and quantity of offerings among individ-
uals were observed. Again, there were age differences among
the individuals, with more variability than in Burial 2. In those
cases in which it was possible to determine sex, it was always
male.
Exploration of the Looters' Tunnel
Beyond these two burial chambers, our tunnel was continued
northward toward the center. Along the route of the tunnel, nu-
merous postholes were found in the natural tepetate layer.
While some of these pertain to the construction of the Feath-
ered Serpent Pyramid, others correspond stratigraphically to
earlier structures whose remains were destroyed when the pyr-
amid was built. At 24 m in, the archaeological tunnel inter-
sected an ancient tunnel whose existence was not suggested by
either the topography of the pyramid mound or any ethnohis-
torical documents. The tunnel entrance was completely sealed,
and apparently had been so for centuries. The tunnel itself was
Cabrera C , Sugiyama, and Cowgill
Figure 4 . Test excavation in the looters' tunnel inside the pyramid (Front
C) showing stratigraphy of the tunnel floor. At the bottom is the natural
tepetate, which is overlain by two distinct compacted floor surfaces. The
topmost layer of loose dirt and stones reflects the condition of the tunnel
floor as we encountered it.
a large, irregular hollow passage left by the removal of a large
volume of stones and mud by the looters.
The discovery of the looters' tunnel forced substantial
changes in the original excavation strategy. The existence of the
tunnel provided unexpected opportunities to study the pyramid
construction more intensively, besides presenting new problems
related to the looting episode(s): What happened? How, why,
and when did these events occur after the completion of the pyr-
amid? How long did knowledge of the tunnel's existence per-
sist? A survey and surface collection of the entire tunnel were
made. Test pits were placed along its entire route in order to ob-
tain stratigraphic data (Figure 4) and any materials that the
looters might have left behind, in addition to information con-
cerning the burials that were found and looted. A great quan-
tity of building-related features, walls and postholes, of the
pyramid construction system were recorded. Evidence concern-
ing looted burials, as well as a single burial and the remains of
an earlier structure with which it is associated, was uncovered
near the pyramid center.
The looters' tunnel has its origin at the southeast corner of
the pyramid (Figure 5). A pit excavated at the southeastern end
of the tunnel revealed that, originally, the tunnel had extended
farther to the southeast at the same level, and that the tunnel
had probably been left open for a long time. The tunnel runs
diagonally toward the center but misses the exact center by 2 m
(Figure 1). West of the central north-south axis, the looters'
tunnel passes over a large burial pit, Burial 12, which was
looted, and then procedes further westward where a still larger
burial pit, Burial 13, was encountered and looted. At this point,
three branches of the tunnel go north, south, and west from Bu-
rial 13, and another short branch extends north from the area
around Burial 12.
Burial 12 was found at 3 m west-southwest of the pyramid
center. The burial pit was square in outline (3 m by 3 m) and
dug to a depth of 0.9 m into the natural tepetate. It had been
looted almost completely, except for a small portion around the
northeastern corner. The stratigraphy of the pit consisted
mainly of horizontal layers of the secondary fill redeposited by
The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project
Figure 5. View of the southeasternmost end of the looters' tunnel.
the looters after they had emptied the pit of nearly all its orig-
inal contents. But it also presents complicated stratigraphic re-
lations in association with layers pertaining to remnants of a
prepyramid structure found in the vicinity of Burial 12. The
data are too complicated to be described adequately in this brief
preliminary report. The stratigraphic sequence indicates, how-
ever, that Burial 12 may be associated with the time of the con-
struction of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, but the possibility
also exists that the burial pit originally had been made sometime
after the prepyramid structure but before the initiation of the
pyramid construction, so that it may have already been looted
once before being reused as a burial pit at the time of pyramid
construction. The final disturbance (not counting our own ex-
cavation), attributable to looting inside the pyramid, has seri-
ously impaired our ability to unravel the entire stratigraphic
sequence because the excavation of the looters' tunnel involved
the nearly complete removal of the original layers in and above
the pit.
A small quantity of human bone fragments and offerings
disturbed by looters were found in the lowest layers in the re-
fill of the pit. Impressions of human bones in the tepetate floor
also confirm its function as a multiple burial pit. The offerings
discovered in the lower layers include fragments of obsidian
projectile points, shell and greenstone beads, fragments of
greenstone earplugs, slate disk fragments, animal bones, canine
teeth, carbon, a stucco fragment of hemispherical shape, and
traces of red pigment on the bones and floor.
Near the northeast corner of the pit in what remained of the
original fill, bones belonging to a human adult (probably male)
were discovered in correct anatomical relationship to one an-
other. Although the skeleton was incomplete, the bones indicate
that the individual was buried in dorsal position with an east-
west orientation. Also, the hands seem to have been tied behind
the individual's back. Therefore, we believe that Burial 12 con-
sisted of several individuals who were very probably sacrificed
83
like the others found in the pyramid. The associated offerings
include a slate anthropomorphic figurine, an unworked spiral
shell, and shell and greenstone beads.
Small portions of two Teotihuacan-type floors were seen
in the wall of the looters' tunnel near the western edge of the
Burial 12 pit. Beneath these traces of earlier structures, the
burial of a single individual (Burial 15) was represented by
only the pelvis, vertebral column, and an incomplete set of right
ribs in correct anatomical position, with the partial cranium
of an animal occupying the position of the heart. The con-
dition in which the bones were discovered suggests execution
by heart sacrifice, perhaps related to an earlier structure at the
site.
Also along the route of the looters' tunnel, approximately 9 m
west of the pyramid's center and positioned on the central east-
west axis of the pyramid, we encountered another large burial
pit (Burial 13). Excavated into the tepetate, this pit was qua-
drangular and measured 4.3 m (east-west) by 3.9 m (north-
south). Its depth was 1.5 m. This pit had obviously been disturbed
by looting and subsequently refilled by the looters. Only a small
portion of the original pit fill was identifiable near the western
edge. The original pit-fill material is the same type of material as
that which forms the rubble fill of the pyramid. This clearly sug-
gests that the burial episode was related to pyramid-construction
activities. The stratigraphy of the area in and around the burial
pit indicates that Burial 13 was looted first, and later the looters'
tunnel was extended to areas north, south, and west of Burial 13.
The remains of one complete and one partial skeleton were
preserved in the primary (original) fill which remained undis-
turbed at the bottom of the Burial 13 pit. Furthermore, a few
impressions of bones in correct anatomical relation were visible
on the underlying natural tepetate pit "floor." Over this floor
was a layer consisting mainly of loose stones, in whose lower
part a considerable quantity of fragmented bone was recovered
along with some grave offerings. The information rescued from
the looted pit confirms that it was originally a multiple burial
whose occupants were accompanied by high-status offerings.
Completion of the osteological analysis should provide an es-
timate of the minimum number of individuals represented in
this collection, who are most certainly the original grave oc-
cupants. Grave goods, retrieved from the same context as the
human bone, include objects of obsidian: projectile points, a
miniature knife, blades, and eccentrics with serpent forms
among others; greenstone including beads, a noseplug, and sev-
eral plaques; un worked whole shells, and worked shell pieces,
some in the form of disks or imitation human teeth; a slate
disk; yellow, red, and white pigments; fragments of wood and
fibers, including the fragile remains of a basket bottom; and an-
imal fangs.
The complete skeleton was discovered in the original fill near
the west edge of the pit, an adult male, unusually robust, bur-
ied face- and belly-down with the knees tucked under the chest
(Figure 6). An interesting feature of this individual's interment,
which likely accounts for its unusually good preservation as
well, is the arrangement of stones made around the body which
apparently was intended to serve to protect and/or isolate this
individual in a real and/or symbolic sense. This individual also
possessed an unusual and fine assortment of grave goods: a pair
of greenstone earspools of particularly large size, twenty-one
large greenstone beads, and a rectangular nose pendant of
84
Figure 6. Remains of individual E from Burial 13 in flexed ventral position
and surrounded by a protective arrangement of rocks. About top center
of the photograph the unusually large earspools can be seen.
greenstone which features a distinctive bifurcated, tonguelike
projection below the rectangular plaque. In addition, this male
was accompanied by a large obsidian eccentric which apparently
combines a projectile point form with a stylized serpent's head.
The distinctiveness of this individual (in terms of his physical
type, burial context, and content) suggests superior social rank
relative to the other sacrificial victims associated with the pyr-
amid. The other individual was still partially intact in the original
fill of Burial 13, but no associated offerings were discovered.
Generally speaking, the offerings discovered in the fill rede-
posited by the looters were rather different from those discovered
elsewhere in the pyramid burials. A particularly interesting object
found in the pit was a carved wooden baton measuring 58 cm
long and 2.5 to 6.5 cm wide which was preserved in its entirety
(Figure 7). The carved end depicts a feathered serpent head, an
image duplicated on the reverse side. The almost unavoidable
impression is that the piece is related to the "manikin scepter"
carried by many Maya rulers. The presence of this object
strengthens the case for the uniqueness of Burial 13, as well as
the argument for attributing very high status, possibly sacerdo-
tal, to the deceased. This interpretation is uncertain, however,
because the wooden baton was an isolated find in one of the up-
per layers of the secondary fill deposited by the looters. This by
no means precludes the possibility that the baton was part of
the original burial offering, but it leaves the interpretation open
Cabrera C , Sugiyama, and Cowgill
to question. Due to the type of material and its excellent state
of preservation, however, clarifying its chronological associa-
tion was possible via AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) C-
14 dating. The two dates obtained are in good agreement with
one another, and they furnish a calibrated, weighted mean of
about A.D. 70, with a two-sigma spread from 50 B.C. to A.D. 140
(Beta Analytic lab numbers, Beta-37833 and Beta-37834). The
dates support the idea that the baton may originally have been
a personal object belonging to an individual in Burial 13 which
served as a symbol of his sociopolitical status.
The looters' tunnel's northern and western extensions con-
tained only a few scattered objects, which might have been part
of offerings, within the levels associated with looters' activities.
Further evidence of other burials was not found in these areas.
Nonetheless, a noteworthy observation was that at the farthest
end of the northern extension the lower parts of the tunnel,
walls, and floor were quite humid, in marked contrast to the
dry conditions at other locations within the pyramid. In this
area, small amounts of saltpeterlike, white paste were found on
several damp walls and stones. Test excavations were made on
the floor of the looters' tunnel to determine whether a spring
could be detected, but we were unable to clarify the source of
the humidity.
The southern extension seems to have been made after the
looting of Burial 13 and before the excavation of the northern
and western extensions. Test pits again revealed more of the re-
mains of the prepyramid substructures. These remains consisted
of small areas of typical Teotihuacan concrete and earth floors
and plastered walls. Although the stratigraphy clearly indicates
that these structural features correspond to an architectural
feature predating the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, only a few
sherds were recovered on which to base a temporal assignment.
Excavation at the Pyramid's Center
Given the failure of the looters' tunnel to pass through the ex-
act center of the pyramid base, we took advantage of its prox-
imity to the center to explore the central area. We initiated a
new tunnel excavation starting at the east wall of the looters'
tunnel about 3 m north of Burial 12 in order to see whether a
companion pit for the Burial 12 pit would be found on the
northern side of the central east-west axis (Figure 1).
Running eastward for 6 m, the new archaeological tunnel cut
through seven walls which constituted parts of the construction
system of the pyramid. At 5 m the discovery of a projectile
point in association with human bone on the tepetate floor tem-
porarily halted eastward penetration in favor of a continuation
to the south at this point. In the area immediately south of the
east-west archaeological tunnel, at the exact center of the pyr-
amid base, a 20-person multiple burial (Burial 14) was unearthed
with the richest offerings known to date from Teotihuacan (Fig-
ure 8). Unlike any of the other burials pertaining to the pyra-
mid construction, the persons in this central group were not
placed in burial pits, but were simply laid on top of the hard
tepetate and covered, like the others under the pyramid, with
stones and mud. There was evidence that some sort of crude,
roughly domelike, structural arrangement of rocks was intended
to define and/or protect this central burial area, but we have in-
sufficient data to describe it very precisely. The stratigraphic re-
lations between the oval-shaped burial site and the walls built
above it indicate that the individuals were placed there at the
 The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project
Figure 7. Carved wooden baton found complete in the redeposited fill of the Burial 13 pit.
Figure 8 . View of some of the remains from Burial 14 at the pyramid's
center illustrating that abundant offerings were found distributed over the
bodies and not in specific association with any single one. In fact, many skel-
etons partially overlay others.
onset of construction of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. Our
excavation data do not admit the possibility that the interment
was carried out after construction. Stratigraphically, there is no
doubt that all 20 individuals, along with their associated offer-
ings, correspond to a single burial event. There is no evidence
for alteration or disturbance of the primary burial context.
Burial 14 extends 5 m east-west by 3 m north-south. Of the
20 individuals discovered in intact condition within it, all were
adults, and most or all were males. Presently, physical anthro-
pologists for the project are undertaking a detailed analysis of
the skeletal material to determine age, sex, pathology, and per-
haps ethnic identity. The positions and orientations of the 20
individuals were diverse and complicated. They were buried
85
10 20cm
—i
with little space between them, and some, whose bodies par-
tially overlay those of others, seemed to have been intentionally
positioned that way.
Ritual symbolism probably played an important role in the
burial arrangement. The individuals appeared to be aligned on
the east-west axis rather than on the north-south one. Six skel-
etons, five in dorsal extended position and one in tightly flexed
lateral position, were aligned exactly on the east-west axis of the
pyramid. Eight skeletons on the north side were positioned dif-
ferently, but generally were oriented in an east-west or ESE-
WNW direction. That is, their heads were directed toward the
easternmost individual in the group. Quite possibly some indi-
viduals may have been buried in a seated position, and later
toppled over as they were covered by the stone and mud fill. Six
individuals on the south side of the axis were similarly oriented
toward the ENE, that is, again toward the easternmost individ-
ual. Overall, their spatial distribution gives the impression that
the easternmost individual had some particular significance. In
other respects, however, this individual does not appear to have
been treated specially. Moreover, he was one of the ten people
in the group who were found with hands and arms positioned
behind the back or pelvis as if they had been tied. In general,
the distribution of offerings among the individuals does not
provide clear evidence for status differences among them. De-
spite the outstanding richness of the burial offerings, we incline
to the opinion that the occupants of the central burial were also
victims of sacrifice performed on the occasion of the com-
mencement of pyramid construction.
The offerings were distributed throughout the entire inter-
ment zone. Most were placed directly on top of the skeletons,
although some items were found alongside or between bones,
and fewer yet beneath the bodies. A complete description of the
offering assemblage is not yet possible. Numerous items suffered
damage from stones in the fill, and require conservatorial at-
tention before analysis can proceed. Nevertheless, a preliminary
inventory of the burial offering content is adequate to illustrate
its sumptuous character. At least 400 greenstone objects were
recovered, including eighteen enigmatic objects of conical form
(Figure 9), earspools, nose pendants, figurines, beads, and
headdresslike plaques [called resplandores by Rubin de la Bor-
bolla (1947)]. The more than 800 obsidian objects include projec-
tile points, prismatic blades (many over 20 cm long), perforators,
bifacial knives (the largest measuring 20 cm in length), and min-
iature bifacial knives, as well as anthropomorphic and zoo-
morphic eccentrics of diverse forms (Figure 10). Shell items,
both unworked and worked pieces, number over 3,400; most
are beads, but pendants and earspools are also represented in
this category. Slate disks of different sizes were present among
the remains, as well as some animal bone, which is probably
86
Figure 9. A concentration of offerings, discovered in Burial 14, which in-
cludes eighteen greenstone cones, as well as greenstone earspools, shell
beads, and miniature obsidian bifacial knives. The cones are about 5 cm
high.
Figure 1 0 . Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic obsidian eccentrics recov-
ered from Burial 14.
canid. Organic remains in the form of whole plants and seeds,
worked wooden objects, fibers, and what appear to be the re-
mains of textiles were common. The only ceramic find was the
incomplete remains of a "Tlaloc" vessel.
Some ornaments and offerings, such as shell plaques, small
spiral shells and jade beads, earspools, nose pendants, obsid-
ian knives, several groups of projectile points, and the remains
of wooden objects (batons?), seem rather certainly to have been
associated with specific individuals. However, virtually all the
offerings found on top of the skeletons evidently were placed
over the mass of bodies without consideration for relating them
to particular individuals. Although offering materials were dis-
persed throughout the entire burial, some kinds of materials
were discovered only in discrete locations. For example, the
eighteen greenstone cones (Figure 9), an offering type previously
unknown, were found together in one small area (20 cm by 30 cm)
between two individuals, near, but not at, the center point of
the burial. Large spiral shells were found in the central and
southwestern parts of the burial exclusively.
Cabrera C , Sugiyama, and Cowgill
Figure 1 1 . One of the sets of objects found in a possible bag in Burial 14.
At several different locations within the burial we found spe-
cial sets of objects, each of which contained a more or less stan-
dardized combination of objects (Figure 11). The "set" consists
of one figurine, two earspools, beads, one resplandor, one bi-
valve with two holes, one spiral shell, and several (usually eight)
miniature obsidian bifacial knives. In most instances, these sets
were found on, or partially surrounded by, a vegetable mate-
rial (which may include textile fragments) that had been placed
over a row of long obsidian prismatic blades placed side by side.
At this stage of analysis, nine such sets have been identified. We
assume that the organic material may be the remains of bags in
which the sets of objects were placed or wrapped. Our recon-
struction of this offering type will be enhanced upon comple-
tion of the analyses of the organic materials and soil samples.
As a general conclusion for the initial stage of our analysis,
we are strongly inclined to believe that the offerings should be
considered collectively as an explicit manifestation of a ritual
symbol set. Therefore, the social and/or political status re-
flected in the offerings must be interpreted cautiously. The of-
ferings may pertain more to the sociopolitical relations of the
people responsible for the burials than to those buried, who
were very probably sacrificed. Ongoing analyses of the offer-
ings themselves and their spatial distributions, as well as stud-
ies of the osteological material, will supply more information
in this respect.
In order to verify whether a pit corresponding to that con-
taining Burial 13 existed with respect to the north-south axis of
The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project 87

the pyramid, excavation was continued to the east beyond Bu-

rial 14 (Figure 1). The excavation only uncovered more roughly
made walls of the construction system of the pyramid and no
other burial pit was discovered. Again, the uniqueness of Bu-
rial 13 appears to be confirmed.
Upon completion of archaeological exploration in the tun-
nels within the pyramid, we backfilled the pits we had excavated
and consolidated areas of the looters' tunnel where necessary.
In compliance with a decision made by the Consejo de Ar-
queologia of INAH in 1989, all the tunnels excavated by the
project were completely filled in with the same material re-
moved from them. The looters' tunnel was resealed completely
and is once more inaccessible.

FRONT B

Several additional operations were carried out under the direc-

tion of Cowgill in 1988 to investigate specific problems. North
of the pyramid, just west of the pit with 18 individuals exca-
vated by Martinez and Jarquin in 1986, we excavated Burial 1,
a deep pit in tepetate, sealed by several concrete floors. Its lo-
cation mirrors that of Burial 203 on the south side of the pyr-
amid (Sugiyama 1989a:95, Fig. 8). Its contents were quite
similar, including ten obsidian projectile points, nineteen green-
stone beads, two earspools with traces of pink stucco, and a
"butterfly" nose pendant. But it also contained thousands of
tiny shells, probably once attached to a garment. The body,
male, aged around 20 at death, had been interred seated, fac-
ing west, and the lower part covered with fine, dark earth, af-
ter which the bulk of the pit was filled with coarser materials.
Seven small test pits east of the known burials on the north
side of the pyramid failed to find more burials (Figure 1). Al-
most surely there were none between those now known and the
corner burials reported by Dosal (1925).
20 cm
Pit 2, atop the Plataforma Adosada, intended to date that
structure, was carried down more than 5 m, mostly in loose, Figure 12. Fragments of modeled and fired clay from the Plataforma
rocky fill. Only the lowest layers were undisturbed deposits. The Adosada.
uppermost part of the fill is from Gamio and Marquina's res-
toration, but it also appears that a huge looters' trench had been
dug along the central axis of the platform at some time in the
past. Ceramics in at least the uppermost 1.5 m included a few est dates to Miccaotli or, at latest, the very beginning of the
unmistakable Aztec sherds, and Colonial sherds occur to a Early Tlamimilolpa phase. By widening the 1939 tunnel under
depth of at least 1.2 m. Ceramics in the lowest levels, however, the stairway, we found additional rich offerings and traced the
are mostly Tlamimilolpa and Miccaotli, with about 5% identi- outlines of several small offering pits. The contents are very
fied as possibly Xolalpan. similar to those reported by Rubin de la Borbolla (1947) and in-
The most striking discovery in Pit 2 was many fragments clude a conch shell, worked shell, obsidian, a greenstone figu-
of intricately modeled, fired-clay walls, some quite large (Fig- rine with tiny detachable earspools and a stepped resplandor
ure 12). This is another unprecedented type of find at Teotihu- fitting on the back of the head, and greenstone beads, nose pen-
acan. Stylistically they are unquestionably Teotihuacan. They dants, and earspools. The materials are also extremely similar
must be from a razed structure, and probably they formed part to those found in the burials associated with the Feathered Ser-
of a frieze adorning its facade. There is little doubt that a tem- pent Pyramid. Although the stratigraphic situation is complex,
ple would have originally stood atop the Feathered Serpent Pyr- there is strong evidence that these small offering pits underneath
amid, although the top is so eroded that no data on this the stairway of the Plataforma Adosada actually pertain to the
question survive. It is tempting to think that such a temple may earlier pyramid, as suggested earlier by Sugiyama (1989a). We
have been razed when the Plataforma Adosada was built and now know that pits associated with that pyramid extended some
fragments of the temple used in the fill of the platform. distance away from it on the east side, and it appears that an
Another operation, Pit 3, reopened the 1939 excavation and even more extensive pattern of offerings existed on the west
tunnel at the foot of the stairway of the Plataforma Adosada. side.
We obtained ceramic samples important for dating the three We also reopened the 1939 excavation at the foot of the pyr-
concrete floors in the Great Plaza of the Ciudadela. The earli- amid stairway (Pit 5). We found no evidence of an earlier struc-
88
Figure 1 3 . Excavation at foot of stairway of the Feathered Serpent Pyr-
amid showing irregular foundation stones previously misinterpreted as an
earlier stairway. Stones of actual stairway are at extreme upper left.
ture; the supposed earlier structure seems to stem from
misinterpretation of some roughly cut stones forming a foun-
dation for the present pyramid (Figure 13). This agrees with the
evidence from our tunnel into the pyramid, where only traces
of earlier structures were found relatively near the center. In Pit 5
we did, however, find the remains of an ancient, large rectan-
gular pit in the tepetate west of the stairway. Because it is now
covered by the loose fill of the Plataforma Adosada, technical
problems precluded our determining its full extent, but it is
about 90 cm deep, 5.4 m north-south, and more than 4.2 m
east-west. It had been looted and filled with loose rubble in
which we found no recent materials. This area was inaccessible
before Gamio's excavations, so it must have been looted before
the platform was built. Thus, it adds to the picture of extensive
early looting. The large ancient pit, like Burial 13, is on the cen-
terline of the pyramid, and it probably contained remains of
great significance including, possibly, some individual of great
importance.
Pit 4 was dug in apparently in situ deposits sealed by a sur-
viving section of concrete floor on the top of the lowest tablero
of the stepped Plataforma Adosada, in a further effort to date
that structure. Upper layers contained a small number of Xolal-
Cabrera C , Sugiyama, and Cowgill
pan phase diagnostics such as San Martin Orange. The ceram-
ics in lower layers are predominantly Tlamimilolpa, with a
considerable admixture of Miccaotli sherds, but percentages of
Miccaotli are lower than in collections from the pyramid. How-
ever, 5% to 10% of the sherds are tentatively identified as
Xolalpan. The remains of a mud-faced talud suggest that the
constructional history of the platform is complex. If so, the ma-
terial from its earliest stages is very poorly represented by our
excavations.
Finally, Pit 6 was opened in the Great Plaza of the Ciuda-
dela, at the northwest corner of the Plataforma Adosada, to
search for a burial there, analogous to the burials found at the
corners of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. None was found,
which is consistent with the possibility that the platform's con-
struction marked a change in political climate and less empha-
sis on dedicatory sacrifices. We found, however, under concrete
floors, the earliest of which is probably Miccaotli, a shallow ir-
regular pit in the tepetate containing soft, ashy soil with several
large sherds of finely decorated vessels of the Tzacualli phase,
substantially earlier than known major construction in the
Ciudadela. This pit was only partially excavated. It may be a
dump rather than an offering, but in any case it adds to our
very scanty knowledge of the earliest occupation here, and the
spot is a strategic place for future excavations.
In another operation supervised by Cowgill, the surface of
the Feathered Serpent Pyramid was gridded into 10 m by 10 m
squares, and intensive surface collections were made. Prelimi-
nary analyses of the ceramics show that although there are
slight admixtures of later materials of various periods up to the
present, the overall composition of the collections is remarkably
similar to those from our tunnel at the base of the pyramid.
This adds further support to the evidence that the pyramid was
built in a single operation over a fairly short time, and it also
strongly suggests that there was never any significant later oc-
cupation, either in Teotihuacan times or subsequently. A puz-
zling observation was a number of sherds that, like some of
those found in the rubble above the concrete floors east of the
pyramid (Front A), have been subjected to great heat. Most
likely these are kiln furniture.
PRELIMINARY CERAMIC ANALYSIS
A N D CHRONOLOGY
Ceramics were nearly absent in the undisturbed burials we ex-
cavated, except for the fragments of a "Tlaloc" vessel in Burial
14 and a poorly made beaker in Burial 6. However, numerous
and sometimes fitting sherds in the backdirt of the looters' tun-
nel strongly suggest that several relatively fine ceramic vessels
had accompanied one or more of the burials and structures se-
verely damaged by the looters. All this ceramic material is con-
sistent with the moderately abundant sherds incorporated in the
fill of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid itself, and strongly indi-
cates that the burials and the construction of the pyramid took
place either in the Miccaotli phase or very early in the Tlamimi-
lolpa phase. At present the differences between Miccaotli and
Early Tlamimilolpa are not extremely well understood, and it
is likely that there was a continuum of change and that detailed
analysis of our materials will help to refine the Miccaotli-earliest
Tlamimilolpa chronology. The transition between Early and
Late Tlamimilolpa is more sharply defined. Preliminary anal-
yses are not yet available for all ceramics from the 1989 season,
The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project
but so far a number of markers of Late Tlamimilolpa and later
periods seem wholly absent from layers firmly connected to the
pyramid. These include such categories as cylindrical tripod
vases, candeleros of all types, moldmade censer ornaments, and
San Martin Orange. On the other hand, monochrome black and
dark brown outcurving bowls and vases with solid nubbin sup-
ports and everted lips are well represented, although lighter
brown examples are not uncommon. Most of these forms are
plain, but some have fine-line incising in dry clay, often cross-
hatched. Curvilinear incising done when the clay was still soft
is rarer but also occurs. Red-slipped vessels, sometimes with
specular hematite, are rare but definitely present. Tlaloc jars,
besides the fragmentary one included in Burial 14, are repre-
sented by a number of sherds in the pyramid, as are floreros.
Rare, imported types include Thin Orange (including a few
sherds of Coarse Thin Orange), Lustrous Ware (from the Gulf
Coast, probably the northern or central part), and Granular
Ware (perhaps from Guerrero). Several Fine Matte Ware sherds
belong to shallow plates or covers.
DISCUSSION
One of the questions we set out to answer was the existence of
earlier structures within the pyramid. Clear evidence of earlier
construction was found (postholes and some fragments of
floors and walls), but its nature is very unclear because it was
nearly all destroyed and the present pyramid was, except in very
limited areas, built directly on tepetate. The pyramid, as it
stands, represents a single stage of construction, in the Miccaotli
phase or very early in the Tlamimilolpa phase.
The question of whether a head of state or other person of
great importance was buried at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid
is of great significance for our picture of Teotihuacan society.
Possibly Burial 13 and/or the great looted pit west of the pyr-
amid stairway once contained such a person or persons, and it
is possible that a major burial might still exist in the area be-
tween these two pits. It is also possible that no such principal
individual was ever buried at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid.
We hope that further analysis of our material can settle this
question.
Another key question is the identity of the sacrificial victims.
For many (especially those in the multiple burials outside the
pyramid and in Burials 2 and 4), their age (juveniles or young
adults), sex (male), accoutrements (maxillae pendant from col-
lars and pyrite mirrors on slate disks), and the accompanying
projectile points and virtual absence of other imperishable of-
ferings (such as ceramics) strongly suggest that they were sol-
diers. An obvious possibility is that they were foreign captives.
In the opinion of biological anthropologists we have consulted,
osteological differences among diverse mesoamerican popula-
tions are large enough so that, as a group, if not in every indi-
vidual case, we should be able to distinguish between highland
central Mexican populations and the Maya and other lowland
groups. Our first impression is that most of the individuals we
have excavated are biologically much like those in other Teoti-
huacan samples (though perhaps with above-average health and
nutritional histories) and decidedly different from Maya skel-
etal samples. Burial 5-H, however, seems more likely to be of
nonlocal origin.
Another possibility is that the victims were captive foreign-
ers from other highland societies, biologically much more sim-
89
ilar to the Teotihuacanos. It is also conceivable (as suggested by
Lillian Thomas) that the victims belonged to a defeated faction
in some internal struggle within the city. It is difficult to say if
purely biological data will enable us to distinguish between
Teotihuacanos and other highland populations, but we will at-
tempt to look for such a distinction.
Cultural evidence suggests that the victims were not defeated
foreigners. They were buried in pits outside of or in the outer
parts of the pyramid, and placed facing outwardly, as if to de-
fend its contents. The situation is reminiscent of some burials
accompanying early rulers in other societies, such as the Shang
Dynasty royal burials at An-yang (Chang 1980) and the Early
Dynastic Sumerian royal burials at Ur (Woolley 1954). We may
be dealing with the sacrifice of loyal retainers to accompany a
deceased ruler, although this is certainly not the only possibility.
Studies of sex, age, and grave goods of those who appear
not to be soldiers are especially important since, if the proposed
analogy is valid, we would expect to find servants, wives, and
other members of the royal household, including perhaps some
of quite high rank.
Several lines of evidence suggest that not long after the
Feathered Serpent Pyramid was built, there were significant
changes in the political organization of Teotihuacan (Cabrera
1987; Cowgill 1983, 1990; R. Millon 1988a, 1988b; Pasztory
1988; Sugiyama 1985b). Possibly the ideological basis of ruler-
ship shifted. As far as we know, later instances of mass sacrifi-
cial burials did not occur at Teotihuacan. Sacrifice itself is very
well attested in later murals, but it seems to have been on a
smaller scale and part of fertility, military, and other rituals that
were not occasioned by the death or burial of a ruler. Unam-
biguous examples of the celebration of exalted rulers are not
known in Teotihuacan art. Although marked differences in
wealth and prestige are indicated by many lines of evidence,
nearly all the population came to be housed in substantial apart-
ment compounds, and relations of superordination and subor-
dination are not obvious in Teotihuacan art, in marked contrast
to that of the Classic Maya. Several scholars (e.g., Cowgill
1983, 1990; R. Millon 1988b; Pasztory 1988) postulate an early
period of autocratic rulers, followed by a shift to more empha-
sis on a collective, group-oriented ethos, soon after the build-
ing of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid.
This postulated change in Teotihuacan politics, society, and
ideology is plausible for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, the
evidence in its support, although of diverse kinds, is not over-
whelming. The data from our work at the Feathered Serpent
Pyramid can contribute greatly to testing, modifying, and
elaborating, or possibly casting doubt on, this outline of events.
For example, if it really appears that there was no single prin-
cipal individual among those buried at the pyramid, it would
suggest that even early Teotihuacan was not characterized by
exalted individual rulers, since no other structures of the period
approach the pyramid in size or quality of construction, and it
is highly unlikely that a person of supreme importance at that
time would have been buried anywhere else. On the other hand,
clear evidence of such a burial would support the hypothesis of
exalted and very powerful early rulers.
There is also the evidence provided by the construction of
the Plataforma Adosada. This large platform did not totally
hide the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, but it did, in effect, put
it into a "backstage" position. The ancient looters' tunnel itself
need not mark a change of regime or ideology, since there are
other instances of surreptitiously looted burials without major
90
political disruption (e.g., the Royal Tombs at Ur, and many
Egyptian examples), yet an accurate date for the looting will
bear on our hypotheses about Teotihuacan society and politics.
Preliminary studies of ceramics from the Plataforma Adosada
raise the possibility that it was built as much as two centuries
after the completion of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, and the
looting may possibly have taken place at the same time. More
accurate dating of both these events should be possible through
SUMARIO
Los trabajos de Gamio y Marquina entre 1918 y 1922 hicieron de la
Ciudadela uno de los complejos arquitectonicos mejor estudiados en
Teotihuacan. Sin embargo, en las decadas siguientes muy poco trabajo
se realizo ahi, excepto por las excavaciones a pequena escala de Dosal,
Caso, y Perez, y las colecciones de superficie y excavaciones de sondeo
por el "Mapping Project" de Millon. Hacia finales de los setentas, la
escasez de datos comparativos de La Ciudadela fue un serio im-
pedimento en los intentos por comprender la historia politica y social
de Teatihuacan.
Durante 1980-1982, un proyecto del INAH dirigido por Cabrera
llevo a cabo excavaciones intensivas en La Ciudadela, y excavo dos
costados del Templo de Quetzalcoatl (al cual nos referimos aqui como
Piramide de las Serpientes Emplumadas, como es recomendado por los
autores en Berrin 1988, para evitar las cuestiones acerca del grado de
paralelismo entre los conceptos teotihuacanos y los aztecas). Entre 1983
y 1984, en trabajos subsecuentes del INAH por Cabrera y Sugiyama,
tres fosas de enterramiento fueron encontradas en el lado sur de la pira-
mide. Una de ellas contenia 18 individuos, claramente sacrificados, con
ricas ofrendas de puntas de proyectil y conchas marinas, muchas de
estas ultimas talladas en forma de dientes humanos. En 1986 otros ar-
queologos encontraron un entierro multiple similar en el lado norte de
la piramide. Todas estas fosas fueron estratigraficamente asociadas con
la piramide misma.
Durante 1988-1989, los autores llevaron a cabo excavaciones por
parte del INAH, sobre el lado este (posterior) de la piramide y excava-
ron un tunel hacia el centro de la misma. Este trabajo ha resultado en
un total de 113 esqueletos completos de personas sacrificadas, asi como
fragmentos de algunas otras. Las personas, ahi sacrificadas en una sola
ocasion durante la fase Miccaotli o Tlamimilolpa temprano, deben
haber sido alrededor de 200.
Al este de la piramide, encontramos cerca de 4 m. de escombros del
derrumbe de la misma piramide. Debajo de estos, habia tres pisos de
concreto teotihuacanos. La ceramica fecha los dos pisos superiores en
la fase Xolalpan o posiblemente Metepec, pero el tercero no es posterior
a Tlamimilolpa. Estos pisos sellaban varios pozos excavados en el tepe-
tate. Los mas notables fueron dos, los Entierros 5 y 6, cada uno de los
cuales contenia nueve individuos de sexo masculino con edades entre los
20 y 40 afios. Estos presentaban numerosas puntas de proyectil y con-
chas trabajadas, incluyendo imitaciones de maxilares con dientes de con-
cha. Una persona tem'a asociados nueve maxilares reales de humanos.
Los entierros 10 y 11 contenian cuatro individuos cada uno, con ata-
vios menos ricos.
A 10 m hacia adentro desde la fachada sur de la piramide, nuestro
tiinel encontro un entierro multiple de 8 individuos en un pozo muy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The fieldwork on which this paper is based was carried out as a project
of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH), with the
participation of Brandeis University. Principal funding was provided
by the National Geographic Society. Archaeological supervisory person-
nel for one or both seasons were Rodolfo Cid, Oralia Cabrera, Alejan-
dro Sarabia, Jorge Mota, and Hector Lara of the Escuela Nacional de
Cabrera C , Sugiyama, and Cowgill
a combination of ceramic chronology, radiocarbon dating, and
obsidian hydration studies.
In sum, although much of the material we have recovered is
of great intrinisic interest because of the exotic material and the
level of craftmanship represented, it is of even greater impor-
tance for its relevance to ideas about the society, ideology, and
politics of early Teotihuacan.
poco profundo en el tepetate, rodeado por muros de piedra que for-
maban parte del sistema de construccion de la base de la piramide. Esta
camara no tenia techo; luego de que los cuerpos fueron enterrados fue
rellenada con piedras y lodo, y la construccion de la piramide continuo
sobre del mismo. A 13.5 m fue encontrada una segunda tumba, muy
similar excepto que mas larga, con 18 individuos sacrificados los cuales
mostraban ofrendas de caracter militarista.
A los 24 m nuestro tunel encontro un antiguo tiinel de saqueo, cuya
entrada sellada estaba en la esquina sureste de la piramide. Este tunel
corre diagonalmente hacia el centro de la piramide pasando a dos
metros cerca del mismo. No lejos del centro, el tunel de saqueo encontro
dos grandes fosas de entierro antiguas. Los saqueadores removieron casi
todo el contenido, aunque dejaron lo suficiente para inferir que varios
individuos fueron sepultados en cada fosa, al menos algunos de ellos
con ricas ofrendas poco comunes de piedra verde y otros materiales,
bastante diferentes de aquellas que acompanaban a los posibles guer-
reros descritos antes. En el relleno posterior de una de estas fosas en-
contramos un baston de madera que dio una fecha de radiocarbono
alrededor de 70 d.C. (calibrada).
Extendimos nuestro tunel hacia el centro exacto de la piramide,
donde encontramos un entierro intacto de 20 individuos, de sexo mas-
culino. Estos tienen ricas ofrendas funerarias que incluyen gran niimero
de conchas trabajadas y sin trabajar, implementos de obsidiana,
figurillas, y ornamentos de piedra verde entre los cuales hay 18 objetos
conicos no reportados hasta hoy en Mesoamerica.
Los excavaiones dentro y cerca de la plataforma construida posteri-
ormente sobre el frente de la Piramide de las Serpientes Emplumadas
descubrieron otro gran pozo de saqueo justo al frente de la escalinata
de la piramide. Se comprobo que las ofrendas encontradas bajo la es-
calinata de la plataforma de hecho fechan a la piramide misma. Los
analisis preliminares de la ceramica procedente de la plataforma sugieren
que pudo haber sido construida posiblemente dos siglos despues de la
piramide.
Nuestro tiinel dentro de la piramide tambien revelo algunas huellas
de estructuras mas tempranas, pero muy poco quedo de estas. La pira-
mide, tal como la conocemos hoy, fue construida durante una sola gran
operation en el tiempo de los sacrificios multiples. A causa del dafio
hecho por los saqueadores, aun no hemos podido determinar si algiin
personaje principal de gran importancia fue alguna vez enterrado dentro
de la piramide. Si este fue o no el caso, la misma escala de los sacrifi-
cios sugiere que durante ese tiempo hubo una autoridad central muy
poderosa en Teotihuacan. Esto, a su vez, es relevante para el argumento
de que los patrones adoptados por la sociedad teotihuacana tardia, fue-
ron la reaction a un periodo de "despotismo."
Antropologia e Historia (ENAH); and Lillian Thomas, Martin Dudek,
and Stephanie Reiss, all graduate students in the Department of Anthro-
pology, Brandeis University. Dr. Carlos Serrano of the Instituto de In-
vestigaciones Antropologicas of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma
de Mexico (IIA-UNAM) directed physical anthropological work by
Martha Pimienta, Alfonso Gallardo, Francisco Hoffman, and Andres
The Templo de Quetzalcoatl Project
de Angel, all of ENAH. Dra. Emily McClung de Tapia, of IIA-UNAM,
supervised collection and processing of palaeobotanical materials by Vir-
ginia Betz (then of UNAM, now of Arizona State University), who also
aided in photo processing. Josefina Barajas M., of the Instituto de Bi-
ologia of UNAM, identified the wood of the baton found in the fill of
Burial 13. In 1989 Donald Booth of Brandeis handled photography and
some archaeological supervision. Throughout, Sres. Pedro Banos and
Ceferino Ortega, senior technicians of the Teotihuacan Archaeological
Research Center, provided invaluable assistance in the field and labo-
ratory. We are very indebted to our local workmen, many of whom
worked for long hours with great enthusiasm and skill under difficult
conditions. Space for equipment, storage, and analysis of excavated ma-
REFERENCES
Acosta, Jorge R.
1964 El Palacio del Quetzalpapalott. Instituto Nacional de An-
tropologia e Historia, Mexico.
Armillas, Pedro
1944 Exploraciones recientes en Teotihuacan, Mexico. Cuadernos
Americanos 167(4): 121-136.
1945 Los dioses de Teotihuacan. Anales del Instituto de Etnologia
Americana 6:35-61.
Bernal, Ignacio
1963 Teotihuacan: Descubrimientos, reconstrucciones. Instituto Na-
cional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
Berrin, Kathleen (editor)
1988 Feathered Serpents and Flowering Trees: Reconstructing the
Murals of Teotihuacan. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
and the University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Cabrera C , Ruben
1987 La secuencia arquitectonica del Edificio de los Animales
Mitologicos en Teotihuacan. In Homenaje a Roman Pina Chan.
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico.
Cabrera C , Ruben, George L. Cowgill, and Saburo Sugiyama
1990 El proyecto Templo de Quetzalcoatl y la practica a gran escala
del sacrificio humano. In La e'poca cldsica: Nuevos hallazgos,
nuevas ideas, coordinated by Amalia Cardos de Mendez, pp. 123-
146. Museo Nacional de Antropologia, and Instituto Nacional de
Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
Cabrera C , Ruben, George L. Cowgill, Saburo Sugiyama, and Carlos
Serrano
1989 El proyecto Templo de Quetzalcoatl. Arqueologia 5:51-79.
Cabrera C , Ruben, Ignacio Rodriguez G., and Noel Morelos G.
(coordinators)
1982a Teotihuacan 80-82: Primeros resultados. Instituto Nacional
de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
1982b Memoria del proyecto arqueologico Teotihuacan 80-82, vol. 1.
Coleccion Cientifica no. 132, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia
e Historia, Mexico.
Cabrera C , Ruben, and Saburo Sugiyama
1982 La reexploracion y restauracion del Templo Viejo de Quetzal-
coatl. In Memoria del proyecto arqueologico Teotihuacan 80-82,
vol. 1, coordinated by R. Cabrera C , I. Rodriguez G., and N.
Morelos G., pp. 163-183. Coleccion Cientifica no. 132, Instituto
Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
Chang, Kwang-chih
1980 Shang Civilization. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Cowgill, George L.
1983 Rulership and the Ciudadela: Political Inferences from Teoti-
huacan Architecture. In Civilization in the Ancient Americas: Es-
says in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited by R. Leventhal and
A. Kolata, pp. 313-343. University of New Mexico Press, Albu-
querque, and the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, Cam-
bridge, MA.
1990 Toward a Political History of Teotihuacan. In Ideology and
the Cultural Evolution of Civilizations, edited by G. Conrad and
A. Demarest. School of American Research, Santa Fe, in press.
Cowgill, George L., Jeffrey H. Altschul, and Rebecca S. Sload
1984 Spatial Analysis of Teotihuacan: A Mesoamerican Metropolis.
In Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, edited by H.J.
Hietala, pp. 154-195. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Dosal, Pedro R.
1925 Descubrimientos arqueologicos en el Templo de Quetzalcoatl,
91
terials was provided by the Teotihuacan Archaeological Research Cen-
ter, recently established with the aid of grants from the National Science
Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada, and other private and institutional sources. Funds for data
analysis have been provided principally by a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, with additional assistance from the Ar-
izona State University Foundation.
Saburo Sugiyama, Bias Castellon, and Maa-ling Chen prepared the
drawings for this paper, and Virginia Betz aided in preparation of the
text. Donald Booth took the photos for Figures 4 and 5, and Figure 13
was taken by Cowgill. All other photos are by Sugiyama.
Teotihuacan. Anales del Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Historia,
y Etnografia 1(33):216-219.
Drucker, R. David
1974 Renovating a Reconstruction: The Ciudadela at Teotihuacan,
Mexico: Construction Sequence, Layout, and Possible Uses of this
Structure- Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Roches-
ter. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.
Gamio, Manuel
1922 La poblacion del valle de Teotihuacan. 3 vols. Secretaria de
Agricultura y Fomento, Mexico. Republished 1979. 5 vols. Instit-
uto Nacional Indigenista, Mexico.
Jarquin Pacheco, Ana Maria, and Enrique Martinez Vargas
1982 Exploration en el lado este de la Ciudadela: Estructuras 1G,
1R, 1Q y IP. In Memoria del proyecto arqueologico Teotihuacan
80-82, vol. 1, coordinated by R. Cabrera C , I. Rodriguez G., and
N. Morelos G., pp. 19-47. Coleccion Cientifica no. 132, Instituto
Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
Linne, Sigvald
1934 Archaeological Researches at Teotihuacan, Mexico, pub.
no. 1. Ethnographic Museum of Sweden, Stockholm.
1942 Mexican Highland Cultures: Archaeological Researches at
Teotihuacan, Calpulalpan, and Chalchicomula in 1934-35, pub.
no. 7. Ethnographic Museum of Sweden, Stockholm.
Lopez Austin, Alfredo, Leonardo Lopez Lujan, and Saburo Sugiyama
1991 The Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan: Its Possible Ideo-
logical Significance. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:93-105.
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo
1980 Teotihuacan: Excavaciones en la Calle de los Muertos (1964).
Anales de Antropologia 17(l):69-90.
Mercado Rojano, Antonio
1987 iUna sacerdotisa en Teotihuacan? Mexico Desconocido
121:6-9.
Millon, Clara
1973 Painting, Writing, and Polity in Teotihuacan. American An-
tiquity 38:294-314.
Millon, Rene
1973 Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico: vol. 1: The Teotihua-
can Map: part 1: Text. University of Texas Press, Austin.
1981 Teotihuacan: City, State, and Civilization. In Supplement to
the Handbook of Middle American Indians: Vol. 1: Archaeology,
edited by V. Bricker and J. Sabloff, pp. 198-243. University of
Texas Press, Austin.
1988a The Last Years of Teotihuacan Dominance. In The Collapse
of Ancient States and Civilizations, edited by N. Yoffee and G.
Cowgill, pp. 102-164. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
1988b Where Do They All Come From? The Provenance of the
Wagner Murals from Teotihuacan. In Feathered Serpents and
Flowering Trees: Reconstructing the Murals of Teotihuacan, edited
by K. Berrin, pp. 78-113. The Fine Arts Museums of San Fran-
cisco, and the University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Millon, Rene, Bruce Drewitt, and James A. Bennyhoff
1965 The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan: 1959 Investigations.
Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 55 (Part 6).
Millon, Rene, Bruce Drewitt, and George L. Cowgill
1973 Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico: vol. I. The Teotihua-
can Map: part 2: Maps. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Pasztory, Esther
1988 A Reinterpretation of Teotihuacan and Its Mural Painting Tra-
dition. In Feathered Serpents and Flowering Trees: Reconstruct-
92
ing the Murals of Teotihuacan, edited by K. Berrin, pp. 45-77. The
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the University of Wash-
ington Press, Seattle.
Perez, Jose
1939 Informe general delproceso de excavaciones practicadas en sis-
tema de pozos y tuneles en diversos sitios de mayor interes del in-
terior de monumentos de la Ciudadela en la zona arqueoldgica de
San Juan Teotihuacan, estado de Mexico. Unpublished manuscript
on file, Direction de Monumentos Prehispanicos, Instituto Na-
cional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
Rattray, Evelyn Childs
1981 The Teotihuacan Ceramic Chronology: Early Tzacualli to
Metepec Phases. Unpublished manuscript on file, Instituto de In-
vestigaciones Antropologicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
Mexico.
Rubin de la Borbolla, Daniel F.
1947 Teotihuacan: Ofrendas de los Templos de Quetzalcoatl. Anales
del Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia 6(2):61-72.
Sanders, William T.
1981 Ecological Adaptations in the Basin of Mexico: 23,000 B.C. to
the Present. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American
Indians: vol. 1: Archaeology, edited by V. Bricker and J. Sabloff,
pp. 147-197. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Sanders, William T., Jeffrey R. Parsons, and Robert S. Santley
1979 The Basin of Mexico: Ecological Processes in the Evolution
of a Civilization. Academic Press, New York.
Sejourne, Laurette
1959 Un palacio en la ciudad de los dioses. Instituto Nacional de
Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
1966a Arqueologia de Teotihuacan: La cerdmica. Fondo de Cultura
Economica, Mexico.
Cabrera C, Sugiyama, and Cowgill
1966b Arquitectura y pintura en Teotihuacan. Siglo Veintiuno Edi-
tores, Mexico.
1966c El lenguaje de las formas en Teotihuacan. Privately pub-
lished, Mexico.
Serrano, Carlos, and Enrique Martinez
1991 Nuevos patrones de mutilation dentaria en Teotihuacan. In
Homenaje a Juan Comas. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropolo-
gicas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
Sugiyama, Saburo
1985a Recientes descubrimientos de entierros y ofrendas dedicadas
al Templo Viejo de Quetzalcoatl. Unpublished manuscript on file,
Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico. To be pub-
lished in Memoria del Proyecto Arqueologico Teotihuacan 80-82:
vol. 2, coordinated by R. Cabrera C , I. Rodriguez G., and N. Mo-
relos G., Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico.
1985b Nuevos datos arqueologicos sobre el Templo de Quetzalcoatl
en La Ciudadela de Teotihuacan y algunas consideraciones hipotet-
icas. Paper presented at the 45th International Congress of
Americanists, Bogota, Colombia.
1989a Burials Dedicated to the Old Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teoti-
huacan, Mexico. American Antiquity 54(l):85-106.
1989b Iconographic Interpretation of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl
at Teotihuacan. Mexicon ll(4):68-74.
1991 Rulership, Warfare, and Human Sacrifice at the Ciudadela,
Teotihuacan: An Iconographic Study of Feathered Serpent Repre-
sentations. In Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan, edited
by J.C. Berlo. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection,
Washington, DC, in press.
Woolley, Sir Leonard
1954 Excavations at Ur. Crowell Publishers, New York.