Mexico 2022 - The Round Pyramids

 The Teuchitlan culture worshiped 4 main gods represented by the elements of earth, water, sun and wind, wind being the most revered. The round shape of the pyramids represented wind. 

Our first stop was a small museum where we were treated to a video which gave us an overview of the culture and prepared us for what we would visit. There were an estimated 25,000 to 45,000 inhabitants in the area in ancient times. This was, for the period, an enormous amount of humanity. A young goth kid working at the museum reminded me, once again, of the cultural homogenization of our present world. The ancient culture constructed shaft graves with different levels. The priests, the highest order of the society, were interred at the lowest level so that their journey to the underworld and after life would be easiest. Middle classes were interred at the midpoint, the poor highest up. One could also gain the high burial status of the priests by reaching the age of 52.Obsidian from the dormant volcano nearby provided the people with a trade good, evidenced by shells and other objects, discovered during excavation, only available from distant areas.

Early morning clouds had given way to bright sunshine and hot temperatures as we began our walk up the steep rock road towards the site. Unlike some other sites I have visited on my travels this one is rather rough, it requires a moderate level of fitness to fully appreciate it. Paths are little more than tramped down areas of grass and the heat, at least at this time of year, can be brutal. 

The video we saw before we began our trek was essential to me in helping visualize the site as it was 2000 years ago. The most well preserved of the pyramids is an imposing structure. It was not only a place for religious rituals but also a lunar based calendar, each of it's steps representing a cycle of the moon. Stone platforms surrounding it once held the houses of the priests. Middle class homes stood a little farther off with  the poor relegated to the farthest distance away. 

In 1969 UNESCO came to the area and declared it a world heritage site. Part of the designation required that restoration was only allowed if the structure was at least 70% intact. As the area had been looted of some of it's stones over the centuries by local residents this meant that some original structures could not be reconstructed. Hence, some of the platforms are missing and one of the larger pyramids stands as a grassy hill covered by the local flora. Still, the idea that I was standing on ground where religious rituals and dances took place over 2000 years ago was a deeply humbling experience.