Exploring ancient Mexico

Sunset, Nov, 1985

Climbing the pyramids of Mexico can give you a dizzying sense of history. Far from being lost, the civilization that built these monuments still speak to us, influencing modern culture--from our fine arts to the food on our kitchen tables.

Our guide can help you to distinguish those cultures--from Aztec to Zapotec--and decide which sites you'd like to explore. On the next two pages, we map 15 sites selected for their archeological importance, impressive settings, and accessibility by paved roads.

At some ruins, you may see ongoing excavation or restoration. Several lie only an hour's drive from cities or resort areas with attractions of their own. Even at more remote ones, there's often civilized lodging nearby. Villa Arqueologica hotels operated by Club Med are within walking distance of five sites. You'll want to consult a travel agent to help you plan your itinerary and make reservations. Several operators offer group tours that include guided visits to various sites (see page 106). Domestic air faces between the gateways of Mexico City, Merida, and Oaxaca are surprisingly cheap in U.S. dollars.

To be sure, Mexico's economy is struggling, and the peso's value is fluctuating ($1 U.S. netted 380 pesos at our press time), but American visitors are as welcome as ever. In response to reports that raised concern about tourist safety, the government has taken steps to improve security. During recent visits, we felt safe at airports and at the protected archeological sites.

Now, during the dry season, you should see temperate weather around Mexico City. In the mountains, fog and drizzle are possible. Along the Gulf of Mexico, stiff north winds called nortes may blow for a day or so. Pack a warm jacket and rainwear. If you're bound for Yucatan or Palenque, take light clothing suited to the tropics.

We focus on Mesoamerican Mexico. Most authorities now agree that Mesoamerica's first inhabitants were of Asian ancestry--the descendants of migrants who crossed the Bering Strait land bridge between Asia and Alaska during glacial epochs 10,000 to 50,000 years ago. In Mexico, the first villages appeared about 3000 B.C.; the first crude pottery, around 2300 B.C. Here's a regional overview of Mexico's early cultures and where you'll see the best examples of them.

The best base for day trips to Teotihuacan and Tula, the Toltec capital, is Mexico City.

Allow several hours to tour the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Chapultepec Park. Superb artifacts fill halls devoted to all of Mexico's ancient cultures. Exhibits are labeled in Spanish, but you can buy English guidebooks at the museum (closed Mondays), as well as fine copies of small ceramic pieces.

Teotihuacan: glorious rise and sudden fall

While the Roman Empire was falling, Mesoamerica's first metropolis was rising at Teotihuacan. By A.D. 500, the city covered 9 square miles, and the population may have reached 200,000. Computer-assisted mapping has helped archeologists identify 2,200 apartment compounds where many lived.

The wonder of Teotihuacan is not in its size alone, but also in the symmetry and unity of its design and architecture. This was a planned city, laid out along a central north-south axis, the Street of the Dead. Along that street, your eyes are led from temple to temple by the talud-tablero motif. The talud, a sloping base, meets the tablero, a vertical panel--an architectural style adapted throughout Mesoamerica.

Disaster truck around A.D. 600: the city was deliberately wrecked and burned. Some researchers theorize that a combination of factors, including deforestation and overuse of soil, may have weakened the society, making it vulnerable to invading peoples from northern Mexico. The collapse caused a cultural vacuum in central Mexico that wasn't filled for 350 years.

Toltec: bellicose two-century empire

From about A.D. 950 to 1150, the militaristic Toltecs controlled the Valley of Mexico. At Tula, you'll see 15-foot-tall colossi (atlantes) of warriors, which may have served as roof support columns for the Temple of Quetzalcoatl.

In the mid-1100s, the Toltec Empire fell apart, perhaps under attack by nomadic tribes, and Tula was abandoned.

Aztec: sanguinary culture crushed by conquistadors

Between 1325 and 1345, the Aztecs founded their capital of Tenochtitlan on an island in Leke Texcoco (largely drained to build Mexico City). You can see pre-conquest remains of their Great Temple in an hour or two, then take a taxi to the Plaza of the Three Cultures, where the temples of Tlateloco, Tenochtitan's sister city, contrast with a colonial church and high-rises.

A Nahuatl-speaking people, the Aztecs called themselves Mexica (Me-shee-kah). They cultivated chinampas, or swamp gardens, raising beans, squash, and other crops. (Some of these "floating" gardens survive at Xochimilco.) The lake yielded fish and waterfowl. Besides wild game, they are domesticated turkeys adn dogs. Guacamole was a popular side dish, chocolate a luxury beverage.