July 1, 2014

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Archaeologists Edge Closer to Solving the Mysteries of Teotihuacán

After decades of investigation, fresh clues are emerging from Mexico’s City of Gods

By Kate Wong

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For decades archaeologists have puzzled over the ruins of the ancient city of Teotihuacán in Mexico. In the July Scientific American science writer Erik Vance reports on recent finds that are transforming researchers’ understanding of this enigmatic place and the people who lived there. For more on Teotihuacán, check out the resources below.

Teotihuacán. René Millon in Scientific American, Vol. 216, pages 38–48; June 1967.

Teotihuacán: Art from the City of the Gods. Edited by Kathleen Berrin and Esther Pasztory. Thames and Hudson, 1993.

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Gender and Mortuary Ritual at Ancient Teotihuacán, Mexico: a Study of Intrasocietal Diversity. Sarah C. Clayton in Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1; 2011.

Human Sacrifice, Militarism and Rulership: Materialization of State Ideology at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacán. By Saburo Sugiyama. Cambridge University Press, 2005.

The Urban Organization of Teotihuacán, Mexico. George L. Cowgill in Settlement and Society, edited by Elizabeth C. Stone, pages 261–295. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007.

The Teotihuacán Trinity: The Sociopolitical Structure of an Ancient Mesoamerican City. By Annabeth Headrick. University of Texas Press, 2007.

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she has focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for nearly 30 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home to the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, as well as to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and a “Big Day” race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Wong is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Bluesky @katewong.bsky.social

More by Kate Wong
Scientific American Magazine Vol 311 Issue 1This article was published with the title “Archaeologists Edge Closer to Solving the Mysteries of Teotihuacán” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 311 No. 1 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican072014-4UGciuGQKruVupGpkyyl2L
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