Houses and Ancestors, Altars and Relics: Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan, Central Mexico
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Houses and Ancestors, Altars and Relics:
Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan,
Central Mexico
Linda Manzanilla
Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, UNAM
ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the mortuary program at Teotihuacan, one of the largest prehispanic cities in Meso-
america during the Classic Period (ca. A.D. 150-750). Three different types of practices are identified: (1)
domestic funerary rites and ancestors' care; (2) special individuals and relic care; and (3) human sacrifices.
In terms of the first practice—which is the most common at Teotihuacan—the location, type of container,
position, funerary goods, and funerary rites are examined. With respect to the second practice, mortuary
bundles and human relics are considered. The problem of human sacrifice along its distinct parameters (sac-
rificial victims related to the main pyramidal structures; decapitation; defleshing and dismemberment; heart
extraction) is treated in the third section.
T he site of Teotihuacan is located in the Central Mexi-
can highlands at an elevation of approximately
2400 meters. Teotihuacan was first settled during the
vey a passion for order and harmony with the natural
setting (Figure 3.1). Teotihuacan's urban planning
solved various complications of cosmopolitan life in a
Late Formative (ca. 500 B.C.-A.D. 150). During the Early multiethnic city; it became a hallmark of Central
Classic and early Middle Classic periods (ca. A.D. 150- Mexican urban settlements.
550) Teotihuacan evolved into a prosperous city with Approximately two thousand apartment compounds
regional ties throughout Mesoamerica; Teotihuacan was have been identified at Teotihuacan (Millon et al. 1973).
the first state-level society in the Central Mexican high- Compounds are standardized single-story multi-room and
lands. The urban capital continued to grow over the next patio complexes constructed of stone and adobe with a
two centuries. It collapsed during a transitional period lime plaster finish. Compounds are not uniform: they vary
referred to as the Epiclassic (ca. A.D. 750-950). internally and externally in size, layout, and construc-
Teotihuacan's civic-ceremonial center encom- tion technique.
passed approximately 25 square kilometers. Its popu- The patios within compounds are open spaces that
lation is estimated at more than 100,000 inhabitants. may have been used for ceremony, rainwater collection,
Teotihuacan had a strategic location near high-quality refuse disposal, and/or the provision of light (Manzanilla
obsidian sources. It also was associated with underground 1996). Patios are associated with one apartment, prob-
caverns and surrounding mountains—elements of the ably occupied by a family or household unit. Patios are
three-level Mesoamerican cosmology. These features smaller than courtyards and courtyards arc not associ-
promoted Teotihuacan's role as both an economic and ated with a particular apartment or household but, rather,
sacred city (see Manzanilla 1997; Manzanilla et al. are public spaces and part of the compound in general.
1996). Teotihuacan was the materialization of the It is believed that these residential compounds were
Mesoamerican archetypical sacred city. Its orthogo- occupied by corporate kin groups. Millon (1968) and
nal grid and the orientation of the main buildings con- Spence (1966) have proposed that craftsmen dedicatedLinda Manzanilla
Figure 3.1. \'iew of the. core of the city from the north (photo. Linda MunzunUla).
to the manufacture of different products lived in sepa- the Zacuala Palace, Teopancazco. and Xolalpan, higher
rate compounds. For example Storey and Widmer to lower status apartment compounds respectively. The
(1999 203; Widmer 1991) ha\e found evidence of lapi- sixth level comprised the low-status compounds such as
darv and ceramic production in TIajinga 33. Research at Tlamimilolpa and La Ventilla B (Millon 1976:227).
La Ventilla 92-94's Frente 3 suggests lapidary and shell Small apartment compounds, such as the one my project
manufacture (Gomez Chavez 1996:40). On the basis of excavated in the 1980s at Oztoyahualco I5B.N6W3
household artifact distribution at Oztoyahualco (Manzanilla 1993), were not taken into consideration in
I5B:N6W3, 1 also can argue for the existence of com- Millon's levels, so a seventh level should be added to
pound craft specialization (Manzanilla 1993). the existing model.
From variables such as room size, use of space, deco- In sum, Teotihuacan society was defined by a range
ration, construction techniques, burials, and offerings, of social groups. Kinship, ethnicity, and craft special-
Millon (1976 227) posited six different socioeconomic ization structured social organization in this populous
tiers comprising Teotihuacan society. According to this city. In such a complex situation, ritual and ceremony
model, the first tier corresponded to Teotihuacan s po- were undoubtedly important mechanisms for promoting
litical elite who may have dwelled in the Quetzalpapalotl group cohesion and solidarity. At the same time, ritual
Palace, the Palace of the Sun, and the so-called "palaces' may also have been a locus of contestation, and burial
to the north and south of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl practices also were markers of social identity and differ-
(Millon 1976236). The second tier was represented by entiation. It is to the burial data that 1 turn now.
thousands of high-status people. These may have been Most of the burials found in the city occur in do-
religious leaders residing in the city's great pyramid com- mestic contexts or in apartment compounds. Teotihuacan
plexes as vv ell as in the apartment compounds of the Great burials vary considerably through time and space. The
Compound (Millon 19X1 214) Alter a major gap, the present data base for mortuary analysis from Teotihuacan
third, fourth, and fifth tiers were materially expressed as consists of approximately one thousand burials
intermediate-status levels. These tiers are represented by (Manzanilla and Serrano 1999) or 1 percent of the popu-Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan 57
lation. Thus, in this chapter my generalizations are ten- the practice of burying the dead in burial bundles (wrap-
tative and subject to later revisions. pings have not preserved in the climate of the Central
Mexican plateau, interestingly, this mortuary custom is
Pattern 1: Domestic Funerary Rites and documented in the A/tec chronicles).
Care of the Ancestors Adult males often had more offerings than females.
However, both display higher status than subadults who
Apartment compounds were a hallmark of in general, had significantly fewer offerings (Rattra\
Teotihuacan society. Domestic life was characterized by 1992; Sempowski 1994; Serrano and Lagunas 1974;
interfamilial forms of integration and cooperation. In m\ Storey 1992). Subadults were generalh buried in private
"anatomy" of an apartment compound at Oztoyahualco (or domestic) locations, although a substantial number
in the northwestern periphery of the city, I distinguished were interred in public passageways on the east side of
individual apartments for each of the three households the Oztoyahualco compound (Manzanilla 1993). Infants
identified (Manzanilla 1988-1989, 1993. 1996). Each and, in particular, neonates were interred in courtyards
apartment had a kitchen for the preparation and consump- and frequenth beneath the altar, the former commonly
tion of food, a storeroom, refuse sectors, dormitories, interred inside ceramic \essels.
ritual courtyards, and funerary sectors. In general, the Teotihuacanos seem to ha\ e regarded
Not all households had the same status inside the the burials in apartment compounds as ancestors ^ h o
Oztoyahualco compound. Indicators of a hierarchical or- were meant to dwell with living kin. This is particularh
ganization have been found. This is par
ticularly evident in the profusion of ex-
ogenous materials and fauna and the use
of Tlaloc symbols (Figure 3.2), as well
as the number and status of burials in the
compound (Manzanilla 1993. 1996).
In general, Teotihuacan's inhabit-
ants were buried in simple earthen pits
within apartment compounds. True
tombs did not exist in the city except
for the ethnically distinct Zapotec-style
tombs in the Oaxaca Barrio. Other ex-
ceptions to the Teotihuacan pattern of
funerary pits were ceramic urn burials
and shaft tombs.
Some adults were buried in a
public area, such as an apartment
compound's principal courtyard or
temple, these adults have deeper burial
pits (Sempowski 1994, Storey 1991).
They also were more likely to be cre-
mated, to have larger and more com-
plex offerings, and to have been
painted with red pigment. These adults
are interpreted as high-status individu-
als. Other adults, presumably of lower
status, were more commonly buried
under residential rooms or small patio
floors—in private space. In both cases,
the individual is in a variant of the
seated or flexed position. Sejourne
(1963) suggests that the predominance Figure 3.2. Tlaloc vase from Te&pancazco, Teotihuacan (photo. Linda \hin:anilla
of the vertical-flexed position reflects and Jo.se Saldana)._ Linda Manzanilla
true of adult burials. When dealing with neonate burials, Ventilla B (Serrano and Lagunas 1974), the Oztoyahualco
there seems to have been an additional stress on their 15B:N6W3 data yield important conclusions. Apparently,
ritual placing and their relation to TIaloc, the rain and there were three related households at Oztoyahualco. The
fertility state god. first and second households, in the southeast and west
sections of the Oztoyahualco compound, respectively
Burial Location are each represented by three adult burials. The third
household, in the northeast section, has eleven burials,
As indicated above, Teotihuacan burials occur in of which six are of infants and children (Manzanilla 1993;
earthen pits dug beneath the floors in private areas (e.g.. see also Storey 1986).
patios, porticoes, rooms) (Figure 3 3) and in public ar- This concentration of burials in particular sectors of
eas (under altars, courtyards, and stairways). These lo- an apartment compound is also noted at Xolalpan, where
cations contrast with locations favored by later nearly all the burials are grouped in the southwest sec-
Coyotlatelco and Mazapa occupations at the site. People tion; at Tlamimilolpa, where nearly all are clustered in
in these later times buried their dead either in tunnels the central-southern section: and at Tetitla, where buri-
(the so-called 'caves") that were created during the Ter- als are concentrated in the compounds northeast sec-
minal Formative and Early Classic periods in the north- tion. Two alternative explanations are possible: (I) one
ern Teotihuacan Vallev to mine volcanic scoria for use household may be better represented with respect to
in construction at the sacred city (Manzanilla et al. 1996) funerary practices, and all the rest are underrepresented
or on top of the rubble of the abandoned city (Armillas (Manzanilla 1996) or (2) because few burials are found
1991 201 3, 211 12 Gomez Chavez and Nunez Her- in the domestic context relative to the total population
nandez 1999:101, 105). of the apartment compound, and these seem to be grouped
Although Oztoyahualco I5B:N6W3 has only eigh- in certain sectors, we may be detecting individuals
teen burials, fewer than found at Tlajinga 33 or La associated with different ritual activities. The latterhy-
F/gurc 3.3. Aerial view oj Oztovahualco I5B:.\6H'3 showing funerary and offering pits cut in the stucco floors (photo. Linda
Manzanilla)Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan 59
pothesis may be supported by the observation that infant to Circular Structure 2. Another eight individuals were
burials tend to occur in open spaces (courtyards and al- under an altar. Some were in a shaft tomb (Rattray and
tars), while adult burials are located in closed spaced Civera Cerecedo 1999:167).
(rooms and temples) (Gomez Chavez 1998:1468). In the possible Michoacan enclave in the western
It is also evident that multiple construction episodes portion of the city (in the limits of squares N1W5, N1W6,
in apartment compounds resulted in the disturbance of N2W5, and N2W6: see Gomez Chavez 1998), burials
primary burials. For example, Storey and Widmer (1999) with Michoacan vessels and figures occur in and around
report that 141 of 206 skeletons from Tlajinga 33 are T-shaped altars, under the slab floors, and in the fill of
secondary burials. Storey and Widmer (1999:206) also the eastern temple of Unit 1 (Gomez Chavez 1998:1470,
report twenty-seven individuals in public places versus 1474, 1478-79). Three temples bore evidence of typical
thirty-three in private locations. West Mexican shaft tombs, and a Zapotec tomb also is
In the La Ventilla 92-94 Barrio, Gomez Chavez and reported (Gomez Chavez 1998:1476, 1481).
Nunez Hernandez (1999:103, 113) report two com-
pounds that differ in social status. Frente 2 is a high- Type of Container
status compound; the majority of its burials group around
the southwest portion. Frente 3 is a lower-status com- Local Teotihuacan burials generally occur in oval
pound; it displays its burials in the northern half of the pits excavated in the stucco floors toward the tepetate
apartment compound. (volcanic tuff substrate). In many cases the stucco was
reconstructed with fresh lime, sealing the pit.
Burial Location and Foreign Ethnicity It was noted above the later people of Teotihuacan
buried their dead in tunnels excavated in the volcanic
Teotihuacan was a multiethnic settlement. Ethnic scoria. These may have been conceived as part of an
enclaves of foreign people have been identified in the underworld, particularly Tlaloc's underworld—the
city. These groups were the Teotihuacanos themselves; Tlalocan (Manzanilla et al. 1996). In Oztoyahualco and
the Zapotecs of Oaxaca, who lived in their own barrio other places where these tunnels are visible, some of the
on the southwestern fringe of the city; the Gulf Coast funerary pits in the apartment compounds appear to copy
merchants, who dwelled in the Merchants' Barrio on the the "caves." I suggest this because when the burial was
east side of the city; and people of the West Mexican interred, the pits were filled with small scoria, the mate-
Michoacan enclave, who lived on the western limits of rial in which the holes of the "underworld" were dug
the settlement (see Gomez Chavez 1998; Manzanilla et (Manzanilla 1993:fig. 76 [v. I], figs. 488, 489 [v. II]).
al. 2000; Rattray 1987, 1989, 1993;Spence 1992;Spence Nonlocal Zapotec tombs have antechambers and
and Gamboa Cabezas 1999). This well-documented eth- entrances to the east or west and are located on top of
nic segregation provides a fascinating opportunity for platforms around a patio (Spence and Gamboa Cabezas
examining and comparing the funerary practices of the 1999:187). These tombs contain extended burials dating
different ethnic groups dwelling in the city. to the Tlamimilolpa and Xolalpan occupation phases.
Thus, with regard to the issue noted above of distri- They are surrounded by bones from earlier burials that
bution of burials within an apartment compound, still a had been set aside, as well as dog bones (Spence
third hypothesis is provided by Spence and Gamboa 1992:figs. 1, 4). These chamber tombs sometimes have
Cabezas (1999.179; see also Storey 1991). They differ- offerings that belong to the Teotihuacan funerary pro-
entiate between public versus private locations for the gram (Copa Ware vessels, miniatures, Teotihuacan cen-
Tlailotlacan (Oaxaca Barrio) non-tomb burials. They ser masks, etc.) (Spence and Gamboa Cabezas 1999).
write: "It is presumed that burials placed in public areas Ceramic urns were found in the Oaxaca Barrio in
reflect a broad public concern with the deaths of those shallow graves containing extended burials. These urns
individuals, and a large public participation in the mor- are not local in style. Rather, they are identified as Monte
tuary ritual." In the different locations that have been Alban Transition II-IIIA from Oaxaca (Rattray 1993:12,
excavated in the Oaxaca Barrio there are the same num- 17, 20,21).
ber of burials in domestic versus public locations (20 Similarly, shaft tombs are not a local burial style.
and 20: see Spence and Gamboa Cabezas 1999:185). Shaft tombs have been identified in the Merchants' Bar-
With respect to the Merchants' Barrio, there are buri- rio and in the possible Michoacan enclave, particularly
als under the floors of the circular structures. A total of in the nuclei of temples in the domestic compounds
thirty-four individuals were located under a ramp related (Gomez Chavez 1998:1476-83).60 Linda Manzanilla
Position (Manzanilla and Carreon 1991). Burial 8 was the most ex-
ceptional of the compound group as a whole.
Seated and flexed positions predominate among the
Teotihuacan local burial population (see Serrano and Funerary Rites
Lagunas 1999:47-50). The seated position is seen mainly
in adult burials that may have been deposited as funerary Clear evidence of funerary rites has been detected
bundles. This position also is present in Mazapa burials through the analysis of the careful disposition of offer-
(ca. A.D. 800-900) deposited in tunnels behind the Pyra- ings around the buried individuals. If our assumption is
mid of the Sun (Manzanilla et al. 1996). The flexed po- correct that burials are common in Teotihuacan domes-
sition may indicate a return to the maternal womb. It is tic contexts because they are part of ancestors' cults, then
found in numerous burials deposited in pits under house we should explain why—with the exception of Tlajinga
floors. Extended burials undoubtedly belong to non- 33 and probably La Ventilla—the number of adults in-
Teotihuacanos. They are common in the Oaxaca Barrio. terred in each compound is too low, relative to the area
of the compound, to account for most of its inhabitants.
Funerary Goods Leaving aside the disturbance caused by reconstruction
activities within the compounds, one possible explana-
Funerary goods in Teotihuacan burials have been tion is that there are other places where dead people were
described by Sempowski (1994) and Rattray (1992). In buried. Another possibility is that when abandoning the
general, local Teotihuacan burials are accompanied by city, the Teotihuacanos took with them the relics of their
ceramic vessels, mica, slate, obsidian, and shell. ancestors.
Theater-type censers were used profusely at On the basis of the material remains and their pat-
Xolalpan, TIamimilolpa (where they are grouped around terning, I think it is possible to reconstruct a funerary
Burial 4 and kept in caches, ready for ritual use), and ritual for Burial 8 at Oztoyahualco (noted above). It in-
Zacuala Patios, but they were also found in Oztoyahualco volved the following actions: the incense burner
15B:N6W3, a middle-class compound. Decorated tripod appliques were removed from the lid and placed around
pottery vessels are common at Xolalpan and TIami- the deceased; the chimney was deposited toward the west,
milolpa; they are very rare at Oztoyahualco. Maya fine with the lid and the butterfly priest to the east of the skull;
wares have been found in TIamimilolpa and Xolalpan, representations of plants and sustenance (ears of corn,
possibly as a result of their proximity to the Merchants' squash, squash flowers, cotton, tamales, tortillas, and
Barrio. Other imported wares, such as Thin Orange and perhaps amaranth bread and pulque [cactus beer]) were
Granular Ware, are present in all compounds. placed to the south; the four-petaled flowers, roundels
Exotic raw materials such as mica, slate, and marine representing feathers, and mica disks were placed to the
shell were present in burials associated with compounds east and west.
of different sizes and hierarchical positions. Jadeite is Scholars have reconstructed other funerary rituals
found in TIamimilolpa, Zacuala, Yayahuala, and the "pal- elsewhere at Teotihuacan. For Burial 1 at Tetitla, Moore
aces" of the Ciudadela. Jadeite is also found with par- (1996:79) describes a rite that involved the throwing of
ticular burials at Oztoyahualco 15B:N6W3 in the form earth together with miniature pots and plates. In Burial 1
of beads. Pyrite was found in Tepantitla, TIamimilolpa, at TIamimilolpa, Linne (1942:126-32) noted a cremated
La Ventilla, and the Ciudadela (Sempowski 1994). skeleton with piled vases as well as other tripod vessels
Burials appear to reflect the hierarchical organiza- that were "killed" and then thrown inside the grave, to-
tion inside each apartment compound (Manzanilla gether with candeleros, obsidian instruments, miniature
1996) as well as the external urban hierarchy (see Millon grinding stones, bone instruments, bone, jade and slate
1976). At Oztoyahualco 15B:N6W3, each household adornments, pyrite circles and objects, figurine heads,
had a burial or two that stood out in terms of its grave mats, textiles and bark clothes, and censers' plaques.
goods (Burial 8 for Unit 1, Burial 13 for Unit 2, and prob- It is possible that the abundance of perinatal burials
ably Burials 10 and 1 for Unit 3). Certain burials in each normally set in shallow bowls in pits excavated in court-
compound had very rich offerings. Burial 8 (of Unit 1) was yards or in altars may be related to specific ceremonial
an adult male in his twenties. He was associated with a the- behaviors, particularly those dedicated to Tlaloc. At
ater-type incense burner (Figure 3.4). This object depicted Oztoyahualco I5B:N6W3, some of these infant burials
a human male figure wearing an impressive headdress and were associated with baby rabbit or dog bones
having the depiction of a huge butterfly on his chest (Manzanilla 1993).Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan 61
Figure 3.4 Theater-type censer accompanying Burial S at Oztovahualco 15B:\6il'3 (photo. Linda \hin:unilla).
Jarquin Pacheco (1988:392) found a circular pit in a construction level. It had a sanctuar> to the south (C:>7).
courtyard of an apartment compound in San Francisco To the north, two areas of fire burning were detected
Mazapa in which there were eighteen perinatal burials, by high pH and carbonates. To the south, high phos
one on top of the other. There also were zoomorphic phate anomalies were found, perhaps as a result of
figurines, a TIaloc figurine, and marine shells. the pouring of liquids in particular ceremonies (see Ortiz
Gomez Chavez and Nunez Hernandez (1999:117) and Barba 1993). Perhaps, the custom of pouring water
report that there were 158 perinatal infants among the together with seeds—which is a common depiction in
190 individuals found in the compound of La Ventilla Teotihuacan mural art was also practiced in the ritual
92-94's Frente 3. Serrano and Lagunas (1974) hypoth- courtyards.
esized that the high proportion of fetuses in La Ventilla
B was related to ceremonial abortion, but this idea has Pattern 2: Special Individuals and Relic Care
since been revised.
Perinatal burials are often associated with altars in Only particular individuals, often interpreted as the
ritual courtyards. In these, interdisciplinary research has most important in Teotihuacan s compounds, seem to
revealed a profusion of ceremonial traces. At have been cremated (Rattray 1992 53). Such indi\iduals
Oztoyahualco I5B.N6W3, there were three ritual court- are present in TIamimilolpa, La \ entilla B. Tetitla,
yards, each corresponding to a household. One of them Zacuala, Yayahuala, and the Oa\aea Barrio (Rattra\
C41, the largest—probably also served as the gathering 1992). In Tetitla, Sejourne (1963:48 49) found some
place for the compound group as a whole. This "Red examples of indi\ iduals set inside a pit after the burning
Courtyard" (so called because it has red geometrical de- of the offerings had taken place as w ell as others w ho had
signs) was the only one with a central altar in its lower been exposed directly to tire. These last ma\ ha\e con-62 Linda Manzanilla
sisted of funerary bundles, which were accompanied by rect physical evidence (cut marks in the thoracic section
stucco-painted vessels with mortuary masks. of the body) is lacking thus far. Rather, there is icono-
Burial 1 at Tlamimilolpa also was cremated, with graphic evidence on Teotihuacan murals showing war-
piled vessels, many of which had been "killed" and then riors who carry daggers with impaled, bleeding human
thrown in the fire inside the pit (Linne 1942:126). This hearts.
fire allowed the preservation of mats, bark cloth, tex-
tiles, and other organic materials that were not exposed Conclusions
directly to it.
Sejourne (1966:234) observed the presence of pup- The urban civic-ceremonial center in the core of the
pet figurines and masks only in cremated burials, par- city was unparalleled in terms of architectural scale and
ticularly at Zacuala. It is possible that the funerary population density. The latter arose through the resettle-
bundles were placed in agave fiber sacks; traces of them ment of local valley residents in the city and the arrival
were found in La Ventilla B, associated with a seated of migrant groups from Oaxaca, Veracruz, and
female adult (Sempowski 1994:83). Funerary bundles are Michoacan. These foreigners settled in barrios on the
also represented in "hollow figurines," such as the one city's periphery.
published by Cabrera Castro (1999:514). The existence of multiple kin and ethnic groups
At Teopancazco, I have recently found some evi- throughout the city's long period of occupation is evi-
dence that human remains were exhumed from ritual denced by diverse burial patterns that can be broadly
places before the compound was abandoned. It may be summarized as follows. Teotihuacan's local population
that these remains were chosen to be relics when migra- buried their dead according to local canons: the deceased
tion was anticipated. Some of the bones seem to have were placed in a seated or flexed position and buried in
fallen in the trajectory, but most of them were removed earthen pits beneath apartment compound floors. The
definitively (compare with Dulanto and with Hutchinson specific location of the burial as well as the funerary
and Aragon, this volume). rites and associated offerings varied both within and
between apartment compounds. Burial patterns reflected
Pattern 3: Human Sacrifice social status based on descent, gender, age, and/or oc-
cupation. The observed variation in burial patterns is
Human sacrifice took place at Teotihuacan. Four consistent with Millon's (1976) model of Teotihuacan's
categories of evidence for this practice are presented here. social organization.
1. Sacrificial victims have been found in association Foreigners were interred according to their specific
with the main pyramids. 1 note, in particular, the infant cultural traditions while often adopting some Teotihuacan
burials of the Pyramid of the Sun (Cabrera Castro and practices. An example of this is found in the Oaxaca Bar-
Serrano Sanchez 1999) and the adult sacrificial victims rio where burials are Zapotec in style with regard to lo-
at the Pyramid of the Moon and the Temple of cation, container, position, and funerary rites (notably the
Quetzalcoatl; the latter are particularly dramatic, for their placement of the dead in an extended position, the preva-
hands were tied behind their backs (Cabrera et al. lence of multiple burials, and the use of formal tombs),
1991 :fig. 3; Sugiyama 1989, 1995). but include both Zapotec and Teotihuacan grave goods.
2. Decapitation is known. 1 use the word to refer to Interestingly, the interment of subadults, particularly
the situation in which the skull is still attached to the neonates, is relatively consistent throughout the civic-
cervical vertebrae. This is particularly evident in Burials ceremonial core. This suggests that this segment of the
5, 14, and 15 at N1W6.22 (Cid and Torres 1999:300- population was subject to similar ideological concerns
301, 332). and associated rituals.
3. Deflcshing and dismemberment are evidenced in Spectacular finds at the Pyramids of the Sun and
cut marks of different types. However, it is important to Moon and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl are direct evidence
understand that defleshing and dismemberment may oc- of human sacrifice at Teotihuacan. Other activities lead-
cur after death as well as before. Regardless, victims of ing to death or following death (decapitation, defleshing,
this procedure are known from Burial 7 at Yayahuala dismemberment) have also been documented. There is
(Sempowski 1994:77) and several occur in Tlajinga 33 iconographic evidence for heart sacrifice. These presum-
(Storey and Widmer 1999:204). ably ritual and ritualized deaths should probably also be
4. Heart extraction is best known among the Aztecs. interpreted in light of Teotihuacan's political ideology
It is possible that it was practiced at Teotihuacan but di- as an expansionist state.Mortuary Patterns at Teotihuacan 63
The study of the space and place of burials at Antigua Teotihuacan, L. Manzanilla and C.
Teotihuacan constitutes an important independent data Serrano, eds., pp. 285-344. Mexico City:
set from which to study the inner workings and change Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas,
over time of a fascinating city and complex society. As UNAM.
fieldwork progresses at the site, new data will be able to
amplify the understanding of mortuary patterns presented Gomez Chavez, S.
in this brief contribution. 1996 Unidades de produccion artesanal y de residencia
en Teotihuacan. Primeros resultados de las
Author's Note exploraciones del Frente 3 del Proyecto La Ventilla
92-94. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antro-
Because of AAA policy, I am unable to publish in pologicos 42:31^7.
this volume burial photographs that accompanied this 1998 Nuevos datos sobre la relacion de Teotihuacan y
study. In Mexico, the publication of ancient burials and el Occidente de Mexico. In Antropologia e Histoha
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