The Ancient Americas

Featured Cultures

Teotihuacan Society
Between AD 100 and 700, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the Americas and one of the largest in the world. The city covered over eight square miles—10 times the size of the Maya city of Tikal. Located in an expanse of flatland ringed by volcanic mountains, Teotihuacan is approximately 30 miles north of present-day Mexico City in the Valley of Mexico.

Teotihuacan was at its height during what archaeologists call the "Classic Period," roughly AD 100 to 700. This urban center was filled with people from different social classes, regions, and professions—from traders to craftspeople to laborers and farmers. As many as 125,000 people called Teotihuacan home. In AD 500, its population exceeded that of Rome at the same time.

Settlement Patterns and Status
A huge metropolis in the heart of the Americas, Teotihuacan was the first city in the Americas known to be planned on a grid system—like Chicago. Two large avenues, running roughly north-south and east-west, divided the city into quadrants.

Residential apartment compounds, official buildings, temples, and wide avenues were all part of this densely packed city.

	The Temple District in the heart of the city reflected the power of Teotihuacan's rulers, as well as the society's spiritual beliefs.
	Foreigner barrios housed merchants from other lands attracted to the city by the opportunity to exchange their goods.
	Apartment compounds were both home and workplace for extended families of specialized craftspeople.

From artifacts found within the various districts of the city, archaeologists can also determine a great deal about Teotihuacan's economy and the governing style of its leaders.

Other People and Places

Teotihuacan society was at its height in Mexico from AD 100 to 700, during the same time...

	The great city of Tiwanaku in Bolivia grew to its largest size and dominated the Lake Titicaca region.
	Some villages in the Pacific Northwest developed signs of social ranking.
	Hunters and gatherers on the Great Plains began to use bows and arrows.
	The Roman emperor Hadrian ordered a wall, roughly 80 miles long, to be built to guard the empire's border in northern Britain.
	People spread to settle all major island groups in Polynesia, except New Zealand.
	An earthquake destroyed half of the city of Petra, in what today is Jordan.

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