page_title: Teopanzolco
section_title: The site
hierarchical_section_title: Teopanzolco / The site
caption_attribution_description: Pyramide Teopanzolco in Cuernavaca
context_page_description: Teopanzolco is an Aztec archaeological site in the Mexican state of Morelos. Due to urban growth, it now lies within the modern city of Cuernavaca. Most of the visible remains date from the Middle to Late Postclassic Period.
context_section_description: Only the ceremonial centre of Teopanzolco has been preserved. The residential areas of the prehispanic city lie beneath the modern development of Vista Hermosa, for this reason the actual size of the city is unknown. The surviving remains were built using local basalt. Although nothing survives of the original finishing, the buildings were presumably covered with painted plaster, as at other archaeological sites. Although the site had been developed by both the Tlahuicas and the Aztecs, the dominant architectural style and the majority of the excavated ceramics are Aztec in origin.
  Great Platform or Building 1. This is the principal building within the archaeological zone. It consists of a westward facing rectangular pyramidal base that once supported twin temples; the northernmost was dedicated to Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god, while the southern temple was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. Two parallel stairways give access to the temples. This style of double temple is Aztec in origin. Two phases of building are evident, the second practically identical to the first and built on top of it. Only the platform survives from the second phase but sections of the walls of the twin temples survive from the earlier building phase. The later phase of construction appears to have been interrupted by the Spanish Conquest.
  Temple of Tlaloc This consisted of a small enclosure surrounded by four pillars that presumably supported a wide roof that extended beyond the temple enclosure itself. It is situated upon the Great Platform.
  Temple of Huitzilopochtli This was larger than the temple of Tlaloc and consisted of two rooms, one lying behind the other and accessed through it. The remains of an altar have been found in this inner sanctum . It is situated upon the Great Platform.
  Building 2 This is a low, irregular platform with a wide north-facing stairway.
  Building 3 is a small rectangular platform with an east-facing stairway.
  Building 4 is a wide but shallow rectangular platform with a borderless east-facing stairway. A pit was found in this structure, which contained a great number of human bones together with two obsidian knives. The bones belonged to 35 individuals of both sexes who had been sacrificed and dismembered.
  Building 5 is another small rectangular platform with an east-facing stairway.
  Building 6 is a small rectangular platform with an east-facing stairway.
  Building 7 is a small, low circular platform with an east-facing stairway. It was a shrine dedicated to Ehecatl, the Aztec god of wind, one of the manifestations of Quetzalcoatl. A sunken chamber was found inside this platform, it was filled with offerings of ceramic vessels and human skulls, probably belonging to sacrificial victims.
  Building 8 is a very small rectangular platform with an east-facing stairway.
  Building 9 is another low circular platform.  It was another shrine to Ehecatl, slightly larger than the similar Building 7.
  Building 10 is a long rectangular platform running east-west, located behind buildings 3 to 6. It has two stairways facing east and another facing to the west. It appears to have been expanded several times during its history.
  Building 12 is a large platform aligned with the Great Platform, lying directly to the north. It has three west-facing stairways.
  Temple of Tezcatlipoca or Building 13 is directly behind (i.e. to the east of) the Great Platform. Its lower level had a double stairway that faced towards the latter. The upper level has a single, wide stairway. The combination of a cannonball strike during the Mexican Revolution and a large looters' pit has inflicted extensive damage upon the remains.
  Platform 15 was excavated in 1997. It is located at the southern edge of the archaeological site. It was a large platform in a poor state of preservation. Below the platform were found the remains of a residence whose inhabitants manufactured dyes, as evidenced by the discovery of hearths with tools and traces of iron oxide-based pigments. The residence was demolished in order to build the overlying platform, leaving only the f
caption: View of the Great Platform, which once supported the twin temples of Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli
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