Newcomers later envisioned Teotihuacan as the birthplace of their world. Cultures inspired by the Olmecs spread and prospered throughout western Mexico. For instance, the civilization of Monte Alban, which was located close to modern-day Oaxaca, governed over a vast valley, with delegates from several village councils making up the central authority. And beginning in 200 BCE, a city state by the name of Cuicuilco prospered in the central basin in the center of Mexico. Up until the day in the first century CE when neighboring Mount Xitle erupted and the town was entirely submerged in lava, its authority much beyond that of its neighbors. A power vacuum was created by Cuicuilco’s withdrawal, but it would not remain. By then, almost everyone in central Mexico was a maize planter, and as a result, many of them had big populations and amazing arts and crafts. Eventually, one of them would emerge as a powerful state and replace Cuicuilco.
That location is today known as Teotihuacan (pronounced Tay-oh-tee-WA-kahn). Shield Flower and her people were aware of the remnants of the city even decades after it collapsed, as it sprang from a void with such immense force. Her forefathers descended from the north, pausing in their journey when they crossed the ring of mountains around the region’s primary valley to survey the view below. It was a very inspirational sight to a person of ordinary experience, and all who came this way did this. In reality, the valley was a basin with no drainage. Its regularly flooded plains had moist ground ideal for cultivation, while the surrounding sweep of mountains served as a physical barrier to the outer world. Created as a type of magical realm, it appeared to be the earth’s core. The ladies were already up, starting their fires, and the points of light flashed in the darkness like clusters of stars in the middle of the darkness, making the dispersed settlements apparent in the predawn darkness.
The wanderers visited the enormous ruins that lay in the northern side of the valley, which were visible for miles and were well-known to everyone in their world, maybe that same month or a little later. Shield Flower’s father or grandpa most likely would have seen them in the days before to the issues beginning, when the group’s menfolk lived as itinerant bands of hired mercenaries. Girls did not usually go outside during times of conflict. There was holiness in those ruins. They were known by the name Teotihuacan for all time, which was bestowed upon them in their own tongue by the first northern settlers. It associated the location with the divine since, depending on what one heard, it meant either “the place of people who become gods” or “the place of those who had great gods.”
Later, the immigrants’ ancestors came to see Teotihuacan as the cradle of their world. They claimed it to be the location of their legendary hero Nanahuatzin’s valiant act of self-immolation. At times, they related the story in great detail, explaining that the gods gathered at Teotihuacan after the destruction of the first four imperfect worlds, each with its own sun and inhabitants. This left the planet in a state of darkness. At Teotihuacan, the gods convened and conferred. Who would bear the weight, they asked one another. Who will assume responsibility for ensuring that a sun and a dawn appear?
They picked Nanahuatzin because of his extreme ordinaryness, but they had great trust in one named Tecuciztecatl (tekw-seez-TEK-at) who volunteered. They awarded him the honor of a forked heron feather hat for his sacrifice and other presents. When the clock struck midnight and the time came, Tecuciztecatl discovered he was unable to carry out the act. The common Nanahuatzin was the one who closed his eyes and dove into the fire “so that the dawn might break.” He bravely turned toward the sun despite suffering. His visage had grown so brilliant that no one could gaze at it; even the gods paid him homage. Tecuciztecatl suddenly found the strength he needed and flung himself in, inspired by the bravery of another. And he turned into the moon. Subsequently, two commonplace creatures, the jaguar and the eagle, displayed remarkable bravery and humility by throwing themselves into the fray together. The inhabitants had the belief that everything began at Teotihuacan.
The inspiring remnants of the metropolis must have astounded the first northern immigrants who came upon them. The ancient city was sandwiched between two enormous pyramids, each of which paid respect to the might and divinity of the earth itself and was positioned in relation to a looming mountain in the background. A large avenue separated them, and on each side were the homes, schools, and temples of a long-gone people. Following the grid-patterned side streets, the Nahuas discovered hundreds of residences that opened into little courtyards as they strolled through the ruins of a former world. They discovered pits used as latrines, aqueducts, and painted walls. Within the temple precinct, enormous feathered serpents protruded from the wall at eye level, and intricately carved snakes slithered down great stairways. These animals had the pallid hue of rock, yet sporadic brilliant spots showed that they had formerly been vibrantly painted.
The remains of Shield Flower’s city still tell the tale of the bustling metropolis that could once be heard from a considerable distance. Following the volcano’s devastation of Cuicuilco in the 200s and 600s, the population of the twenty-square-mile metropolis increased to an incredible fifty thousand. The nobles occupied the most opulent homes, yet every neighborhood was remarkable in and of itself, with its own distinct personality and industry. The greatest neighborhood belonged to the artisans who made spearheads, knives, sculptures, jewelry, and mirrors using obsidian, a volcanic substance that resembled black glass. In fact, the city was established next to a significant obsidian mine. When that mine ran out, the locals discovered another 70 kilometers distant, and they started using slaves from kingdoms that had been captured to bring the stone to them.
The potters were renowned for their skill as well. Their labor was shipped hundreds of kilometers abroad, where it was exchanged for other items, just like the obsidian products. Long-distance trade was ensured by the presence of merchants from different regions living in little enclaves inside the city. They left behind signs of their strange methods of doing things in the leftovers of their cookery and their trash heaps. The agricultural peoples’ houses and their irrigation canals were arranged in a vast circle around the city. But the city was not entirely supplied with food by the farmers; other food items arrived as tribute from weaker groups. Since Teotihuacan’s influence could subsequently be seen in those Maya kingdoms, it appears that the city even waged war against or engaged in commerce with some of them.
At the location of a significant gemstone mine far to the north, the city’s nobles planned for the establishment of another city in the year 500. The people of Shield Flower eventually dubbed this new city Chalchihuitl (Chal-CHEE-weet), their name for the green stone that we call jade. Today, the location is known as Alta Vista and is in the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas. There had been a hamlet there for many hundred years, but now it was going to be elevated to a magnificent location.
Teotihuacan’s ceremonial center served as the model for this one. In addition to mining the valuable jade, the new city was tasked with securing the path that led to modern-day Arizona and New Mexico, the sources of turquoise and other products. But the inhabitants of Chalchihuitl were not limited to this. They possessed knowledge of the calendar used at Teotihuacan, and they became into skilled astronomers out in the desert. Similar to Teotihuacan, they linked their manmade environment with the heavenly one, and people traveled great distances to worship there.