The Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, echoing the shape of the mountains surrounding the valley, served as focal points for Teotihuacan's urban layout. Beneath the pyramids are earlier structures; perhaps even tombs of Teotihuacan rulers are to be found within their stone walls. When the Pyramid of the Sun was completed circa 200 A.D., it was some 63 meters tall and 215 meters square. One of the largest structures ever built in the ancient Americas, its aspect today is the result of reconstruction and consolidation carried out in the early part of the twentieth century. Excavations in 1971 directly under the Pyramid of the Sun revealed a tunnel-like cave, ending in a cloverleaf-shaped set of chambers, apparently the scene of numerous ancient fire and water rituals.
The cenotes facilitated tapping the underground waters of the area. The dates for this settlement vary according to subsequent local accounts: one manuscript gives 415-35 A.D., while others mention 455 A.D. The town that grew up around the sector known as Chichen Viejo already boasted important monuments of great interest: the Nunnery, the Church, Akab Dzib, Chichan Chob, the Temple of the Panels and the Temple of the Deer. They were constructed between the 6th and the 10th centuries in the characteristic Maya style then popular both in the northern and southern areas of the Puuc hills.The second settlement of Chichen-Itza, and the most important for historians, corresponded to the migration of Toltec warriors from the Mexican plateau towards the south during the 10th century. According to the most common version, the King of Tula, Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, or Kukulkan as the Maya translated the name, reportedly took the city between 967 A.D. and 987 A.D.Following the conquest of Yucatán a new style blending the Maya and Toltec traditions developed, symbolizing the phenomenon of acculturation.
Fash was a very interesting book that catalogued the history of the Maya from the Preclassic Period (2000 B.C.E to 250 AD) to the Postclassic Period (900 AD- 1200 AD) including the collapse of the Classic Period centers in the southern lowlands, to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in 1519 AD. The first section of the book talks about Copan as being the classic Maya center describing Copan as “the Athens of the New World” and also explains the importance of archeological studies at the site. Copan has more hieroglyphic inscriptions and other sculpted monuments than any other Maya ruin, or any other site in the New World. The principal group of ruins, or site core, consists of a series of large buildings constructed around open courtyards which frequently contained stelae and alters. The principal groups contained two basic parts; the north included many low-lying plazas and to the south, the upraised courtyards and constituent structures were built upon the Acropolis .
M The Maya were generally considered one of the greatest civilizations in North America prior to Columbus's arrival. They achieved the most developed language, the highest level of knowledge on astronomy for their time, and the most complicated calendar of all the Mesoamerican people. Behind all these advancements, they also had a pretty complex class structure, economy, and governmental system. A. In the Preclassic era of Mayan history, corn was farmed and the early Mayans laid a base for their culture, which was believed to have been influenced by the Olmec Indians near-by (Evanston).
Basically their whole life depended on the stars. The Mayans used the stars to tell them when to go to war, harvest crops and other events of life. Astronomy is still in its use today especially because of the invention of the telescope by Galileo. Star spectrum is light coming from a star that is broken down into a rainbow. Spectra can tell us what makes up a star just by analyzing it.
The Aztec created an empire in the 1400’s in the section that is now Mexico. The capital of Tenochtitlan what is now current day Mexico City. Arriving on the Valley Of Mexico, the Aztecs were forced to occupy a damp area on the western side of Lake Texoco, where their only piece of dry land was a tiny island surrounded by wetland. The Aztecs established their settlement of the site where they observed an eagle with a serpent in it’s grab on top of a cactus. This figure became the symbol that is now on the Mexican flag.
The Aztec Civilization Easier - Aztecs were a wandering Native American tribe who came to Mexico during the 13th century. There they built a great civilization including cities, pyramids, and temples. In 1519 Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico and defeated the Aztecs. Harder - Aztec comes from the word Azteca, which is derived from Aztlán ("White Land"). Aztlán is believed to have been the northwestern region of today's Mexico.
History ADD 201 Kreg L. Mebust Templo Mayor Alejandro Garcia Evening Class The Templo Mayor (Main Temple) in Tenochtitlan, capital of the mighty Aztec empire, was located in the center of the city, where the most important ritual and ceremonial activities in Aztec life took place. Standing about ninety feet high, the majestic structure consisted of two stepped pyramids rising side by side on a huge platform. It dominated both the Sacred Precinct and the entire city. The twin pyramids symbolized two sacred mountains; the one on the left represented Tonacatepetl, the Hill of Sustenance, whose patron deity was Tlaloc, the ancient god of rain; the one on the right represented the Hill of Coatepec, birthplace of the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli.
The sun tunnels were created by Nancy Holt and they are a collection of cast-concrete pipes acting as celestial artwork, arranged on the ground so as to align with the sun at the solstices. The sun tunnels were created in the year of 1975. The meaning of her artwork as I stated before it is align with the sun at the solstices, she wanted to people to gaze into the sun tunnels and people would see the illusion of a dark starry night, and each tunnel has hole that corresponds to the patterns of the constellation. The culture of this art piece is that Nancy Holt wanted to express how she felt about earth and the stars and the sun. Nancy Holt was connected with the sun and the sky when she took this picture.
Guatemala Guatemala is located in Central America. Guatemala is the country below Mexico. The Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea border the country. Guatemala is 108.890km². Guatemala City is the capital of the country.