The Archaeological Sites:
The massive Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán near Mexico
City.
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The main purpose of our trip to Mexico was to see its ancient archaeological sites and, in particular, to compare the
Mexican pyramids to the ones we saw in Egypt. We found that there are actually many differences between the two:
- The Egyptian pyramids are all located within a relatively small area whereas the Mexican pyramids are dotted all over
the country with only one or two at each site.
- The Egyptian pyramids were only used as tombs whereas the Mexican Pyramids were temples with only a few of them also
being used as tombs.
- Apart from the first few, the Egyptian pyramids were all built in the same shape with the sides at exactly the same
angle as each other whereas the Mexican pyramids are pretty much all different with their sides being at various angles.
- The biggest difference, in my opinion, is that unlike the Great Pyramids at Giza, there is absolutely no mystery
whatsoever as to how the Mexican pyramids were built. For a start, they are not on the same scale. The Pyramid of the Sun at
Teotihuacán (near Mexico City) is the second largest pyramid in Mexico and considerably bigger than all of the others we saw
in Mexico. It claims to be almost as big as Egypt’s Cheops Pyramid but it turns out that this is only in the area of
land it covers. At only 65m high the Pyramid of the Sun is dwarfed by Cheops’ lofty 147m. The mystery of how the Great
Pyramids of Giza were built stems around the massive size of the stones that were used to build them with but the Mexican pyramids
were all built with relatively small stones leaving no doubt as to how they got there.
- Despite this difference in scale, the Great Pyramids were erected relatively quickly, with the largest taking only 20
years to build. Whereas the Mexican pyramids were often built up quite leisurely over many generations: they started relatively
small, but every 52 years, according to their complicated calendar system, a new layer was built over the old pyramid to herald the
birth of a new era.
- Finally, a bit of perspective: the Great Pyramids of Giza were built over 2,500 years before the first of the Mexican
pyramids were built and they are still in pretty good condition over 4,500 years later. Whereas, even the youngest of the Mexican
Pyramids was already in a state of decay when it was discovered. Our pictures make them look deceptively good but this is following
extensive restoration by archaeologists. The Egyptian pyramids are not the only things that are wearing better than their Mexican
equivalents - the colouring of the Egyptian hieroglyphics is much better than their younger counterparts in Mexico which have
almost all completely faded.
 The Temple of Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá is probably the
most famous of the Mexican pyramids. Twice a year, on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the stepped edge of the pyramid casts a
rippling "serpent" shadow down this staircase which has carved stone snake heads at the foot to complete the
illusion. |
The Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal has the steepest steps
of all of the pyramids that we climbed. Going up was pretty easy but some people had a very hard time coming back down. You
couldn’t see that there were any steps until you got right up to the edge of them when it still looked like a sheer 35m drop.
We saw one person, rigid with fear, lying at the top of the steps, eyes tightly closed, being talked down by someone who was
guiding her feet. |
Our tour took us to quite a variety of Mexico’s archaeological sites and made us much more aware of the various Indian
tribes that have lived in Mexico. Most people know of the Aztecs but their fame is not due to any exceptional achievements but
stems purely from the fact that they were the dominant tribe in Mexico when the Spanish Conquistadors invaded. They were actually a
relatively young tribe that had only been around for about 200 years when the Spanish turned up (in 1520AD) and systematically
eradicated the Aztec’s entire culture including their language and all of their written works. There are very few Aztec ruins
too, as the Spanish demolished them to use the stones to build their own churches and government buildings. The foundations of the
original Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, were actually only recently discovered near Mexico City’s main square. It is
believed that man first arrived in Mexico around 20,000BC after crossing over from Mongolia during the last Ice Age and spreading
out over the Americas. The Olmecs were the first identifiable tribe in Mexico (from around 3,000BC until about 300BC) and are
considered to be the mother of all of the central American cultures. However, most of their structures were made of mud bricks and
so little evidence survives of this race. They are credited with the first cultivation of corn (a very important staple food for
the Mexicans which was actually worshipped by later civilisations), they invented the famous ball game that all subsequent tribes
were obsessed with and they carved the 3m high giant stone heads which have
puzzled archaeologists for years because of their foreign looking Negroid features.
 The Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque
is one of the few Mexican pyramids that is also a tomb of a King. The crypt is actually at ground level but the entrance to the
tomb is in the temple at the top of the pyramid. |
These 61 steep steps down to the tomb of Pacal are a death-trap as the
moisture from all of the visitors to this virtual oven has made them dangerously slippery. |
Many other tribes rose and fell between the Olmecs and the Aztecs, including the Zapotecs, Teotihuacános, Mayas,
Toltecs and Mixtecs and it was their archaeological sites that our tour concentrated on. The first major site that we visited was
Teotihuacán. This is an enormous complex dominated by the massive Pyramid of the Sun and the slightly smaller, but steeper,
Pyramid of the Moon. During our tour we climbed countless pyramids but these two were easily the hardest. Not only because they
were the tallest but also because they were the first and our legs weren’t used to the exertion. We were also at a fairly high
altitude where the thin air supposedly makes you tire easily. By the end of the tour, however, we were trotting up and down
pyramids without any effort.
A small section from The Platform of the Skulls at
Chichén Itzá
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One of the most physically uncomfortable days of our tour was when we visited the Mayan site at Palenque. This is located
deep inside Mexico’s last remaining area of tropical rain forest and we had been warned to protect ourselves from its insect
inhabitants by covering up with long trousers and sleeves. Well, we didn’t notice any insects but we did notice the extreme
humidity which was made all the more unbearable by the extra protective clothing we were all wearing. It was about 35°C (about
the same as at the previous sites) but the humidity made it feel more like 45°C. We were all uncomfortably moist before we
started exploring the site which, as luck would have it, had more than the usual number of pyramid structures to climb. By the end
of our visit, most of us were completely drenched. Fortunately, we had time to have a shower and change before we moved on. |
