An avenue organizes monumental space
Teotihuacan grew in the central Mexican basin. Construction during the first through sixth centuries CE produced pyramids, a monumental avenue and ordered neighborhoods. The Sun, Moon and Feathered Serpent complexes used stairs and plazas to shape access. Stone, earth and mortar formed platforms enlarged through successive works. Shared orientation connected buildings, while materials and food arrived from surrounding areas. Continued construction required residents and craftspeople to organize space for both work and everyday life.
Living and working in apartment compounds
Apartment compounds linked rooms around courtyards, accommodating residence, cooking, storage and craft activity. Walls, drains and entrances differentiated spaces that residents maintained. Obsidian working, pottery and other production left material in some compounds, connecting households with exchange. Murals decorated rooms and courts with animals, figures and ritual scenes. Objects and burial practices in distinct neighborhoods also indicate residents with connections to other regions who made enduring homes within the city.
Regional links and urban change
Ceramics, stone and architectural imagery connect Teotihuacan with Mexican regions and Maya cities through travel, politics and craft circulation. Fire damaged parts of the core around the mid-sixth century, followed by reduced population and activity. Different buildings preserve varied sequences, and later residents reused parts of the site. Surveys compare neighborhoods, production and supply to investigate urban change. Subsequent societies continued to engage with its monuments and images, making the ancient center part of later historical memory.