Teotihuacan's metropolitan expansion, Tikal influence, and revised decline timeline. After 100 CE, Teotihuacan shifted from pyramid building to constructing hundreds of walled apartment compounds, each housing hundreds of people, with population surging to over 100,000. Foreign neighborhoods of Maya, Zapotec, and Totonac communities have been identified within the city. The talud-tablero architectural style spread to Cholula, Monte Albán, western Mexico, and as far as Zacatecas; Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemalan Highlands received an entire talud-tablero district.

After 100 CE, Teotihuacan built walled compounds, pushing population past 100,000. Maya, Zapotec, and Totonac neighborhoods existed. The talud-tablero style spread across Mesoamerica. In 378 CE, prince Yax Nuun Ahiin took Tikal's throne. A 2022 study found multiple burnings starting 327 CE. The ~650 CE decline triggered collapse.

Key Facts

  • After 100 CE, Teotihuacan shifted from pyramid building to constructing hundreds of walled apartment compounds, each housing hundreds of people, with population surging to over 100,000.
  • Foreign neighborhoods of Maya, Zapotec, and Totonac communities have been identified within the city.
  • The talud-tablero architectural style spread to Cholula, Monte Albán, western Mexico, and as far as Zacatecas; Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemalan Highlands received an entire talud-tablero district.
  • In 378 CE, the Tikal king was replaced by a Teotihuacan prince named Yax Nuun Ahiin (First Crocodile), son of Spearthrower Owl; recent excavations suggest Teotihuacan influence at Tikal began around the mid-200s CE.
  • The Maya called Teotihuacan 'Puh' (Place of Reeds).
  • A 2022 study found multiple burning episodes at Teotihuacan, with the earliest dating to 327 CE, undermining the theory of a single fiery destruction around 650 CE.
  • The burning may represent an early version of the Aztec New Fire Ceremony, in which old temples were burned and new ones erected.
  • Teotihuacan's decline around 650 CE triggered a Mesoamerica-wide societal collapse and power vacuum filled later by Tula and the Toltecs.

Related site: Teotihuacan — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.

Source: The Real Origins of Teotihuacan? by Archaeologist Ed Barnhart