Pre-Columbian & Native American Architecture, Individual Buildings & Designs - General & Miscellaneous, Pre-Columbian Art
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Overview
The largest city of the ancient Americas, Teotihuacan flourished between the first century B.C. and the eighth century A.D., covering about three square miles, with an estimated population of over 100,000 inhabitants. The Aztecs call the city Teotihuacan, 'the city of gods'. because they considered it to be the imposing handiwork of divine giants.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
One of the most remarkable Mesoamerican sites, the sacred city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico embodies the cosmology of the unknown people who built it. It boasts the vast Sun Pyramid, erected on a grotto with an underground stream, and many other equally impressive monuments. The city's majestic Avenue of the Dead was festooned with polychrome murals still visible today. Archeologist Moctezuma ( The Aztecs ) sifts the evidence to show that Teotihuacan was the hub of a full-fledged state, ruled by an elite of nobles, priests and warriors, whose inhabitants possessed advanced knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, art and architecture. Some 100 breathtaking color photographs (and 200 black-and-white) reveal archeological and artistic detail with unsurpassed clarity. The author provocatively speculates that the city's violent, mysterious end before 750 A.D. was the result of an armed rebellion by overtaxed vassals. (Jan.)Library Journal
Among the innumerable archaeological treasures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, none rivals in severe grandeur and historical importance the ancient city of Teotihuacan. While this attractively illustrated volume suggests something of its magnitude and magnificence, its contemporary significance and enduring aesthetic impact are almost completely lost in the prosaic text. Critical formal and iconographic problems of the most important monuments are hardly broached; the omnipresent role of the city's grid plan is insufficiently articulated; and the profoundly important relationship of the place with spiritual forces inherent in the environment inadequately considered. The mystery of Teotihuacan's written language is neglected, and no attempt is made to identify its inhabitants. A too-terse summary of more recent important excavations adds little to the reader's understanding. The generally unbalanced coverage and the inadequate documentation for some reproductions further detract from Matos Moctezuma's work.-- Robert Cahn, Fashion Inst. of Technology, New YorkBook Details
Published
December 4, 1990
Publisher
Rizzoli International Publications
Pages
240
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780847811984