NARRATOR: Located just 30
miles northeast of Mexico City,
the Teotihuacan
complex encompasses
nearly eight square miles and is
dated to the first century AD.
It is the oldest and
most sophisticated
city of Mesoamerica,
an area that
extends from northern Mexico
down through Central America.
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The civilization predated the
Maya by at least 100 years.
At its peak, it was
said to have supported
nearly 100,000 residents.
It was also the largest city in
the entire Western hemisphere
prior to the 15th
century, and served
as the major commerce
and religious center
for the region.
EXPERT 1: The significance
of Teotihuacan
cannot be overstated.
It is the Rome of Mesoamerica.
The things that Teotihuacan
did set the pattern for
all other city-states after it.
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NARRATOR: The central
features of the complex
are two large pyramids known
as the Pyramid of the Sun
and the Pyramid of
the Moon, as well
as a temple dedicated
to Quetzalcoatl,
the feathered serpent.
These structures stand alongside
a thoroughfare referred
to as the Avenue of the Dead.
Over 200 smaller buildings,
platforms, and pyramids are
found adjacent to the avenue.
And there are thousands
of living quarters
just outside the complex.
But as incredible
as Teotihuacan is,
no one knows exactly who
built this metropolis
or what happened
to its occupants.
EXPERT 1: Teotihuacan,
despite its size,
has no hieroglyphs whatsoever.
There are other cultures
in Mesoamerica that
were using writing systems.
There's nothing like
that at Teotihuacan.
So we don't really have a
clear history of what happened
at Teotihuacan,
and we can't really
find evidence of their rulers.
WILL HART: We have such
a sophisticated site
that embodies engineering
principles, craftsmanship, art.
Where did it originate?
Where are the smaller
versions of this?
Well, we don't find any.
So we don't have a
progression, an evolution,
to show where this came from.
So we have to ask,
where did it come from?
DAVID WILCOCK: We've
become conditioned
to look at these awesome
works of stone architecture
and think, oh,
primitive people did
that, in these primitive methods
and primitive technology.
But we have to rethink the
fundamental assumptions
and come to a greater and
greater level of understanding
that the technology required to
build these artifacts, in fact,
is greater than anything
that they possessed.
NARRATOR: But based on the
local lore of the region,
ancient astronaut
theorists suggest
that the original
builders of the site
may not have been human at all.
JONATHAN YOUNG: All of
the people in this area
felt this city was a sacred site
connected to a divine realm.
The population along the
coast were the Totonac.
They believe that the place
was founded by a dozen
sky gods, the lords of thunder.
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Other nearby
Mesoamerican cultures
had their own theories.
One associated the site
with the feathered serpent
god, Quetzalcoatl, who was
said to have come from Venus.
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It was the Aztecs who
gave the place its name,
Teotihuacan, city of the gods.
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EXPERT 2: The name
speaks for itself.
So one has to ask the
question, what gods?
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Who were they?
Were they just a figment of
our ancestors' imagination,
or did they see someone?
Did somebody visit
them to essentially
jump-start civilization?
