Teotihuacan was the dominant civilisation of Mesoamerica in the 5th century. The origin, history and culture of Teotihuacan have been vast and abstruse areas of research, which rely decisively on masses of evidence found at the site of pyramids, temples and neighbourhoods in a sub-valley inside the Valley of Mexico. Since the earliest excavations of Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora in the 17th century, the nature of Teotihuacanos society has been a persisting mystery however, through the utilisation of archaeometry, evidence can be interpreted and lucid hypotheses formed to a significant level of accuracy. Science and archaeology have allowed the development of theories and the stimulation of valuable discussion and coalescence of historical perspectives.
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Sempowski in 1994 carried out an investigation to understand social status within teotihuacan, in particular gender disparity, based on mortuary data. Examination of grave goods was used to determine the social ranking of men in comparison to women. While the data gives a strong indication of the higher ranking of men, it also shows that this was more significant in some residential areas than others, with some areas such as La Ventilla displaying almost no discrepancy. As well as this, the data demonstrated clear variation between residential groups, revealing that Teotihuacan may have had areas divided by class and wealth. In relation to the Teotihuacanos’ value of gender, Sempowski concludes that “Gender is a social principle which one expects to find as a basis for social differentiation in most societies... Emerging from these observations, then, is the rather predictable implication that males held social positions of relatively greater importance at Teotihuacan than did females.” Teotihuacan’s art lacks any reference to a ruler, unlike surrounding Mesoamerican cultures, making it increasingly difficult for archaeologists and historians to interpret the extent to which a hierarchy existed within the society. The Teotihuacan Mapping Project was extremely influential in recording data which suggested that it was governed by a sequence of rulers between 1 and 100 CE, during the time when the temples were constructed. Projects and investigations such as the Mapping Project and Sempowski’s study are imperative in ameliorating our knowledge of the society of
Sempowski in 1994 carried out an investigation to understand social status within teotihuacan, in particular gender disparity, based on mortuary data. Examination of grave goods was used to determine the social ranking of men in comparison to women. While the data gives a strong indication of the higher ranking of men, it also shows that this was more significant in some residential areas than others, with some areas such as La Ventilla displaying almost no discrepancy. As well as this, the data demonstrated clear variation between residential groups, revealing that Teotihuacan may have had areas divided by class and wealth. In relation to the Teotihuacanos’ value of gender, Sempowski concludes that “Gender is a social principle which one expects to find as a basis for social differentiation in most societies... Emerging from these observations, then, is the rather predictable implication that males held social positions of relatively greater importance at Teotihuacan than did females.” Teotihuacan’s art lacks any reference to a ruler, unlike surrounding Mesoamerican cultures, making it increasingly difficult for archaeologists and historians to interpret the extent to which a hierarchy existed within the society. The Teotihuacan Mapping Project was extremely influential in recording data which suggested that it was governed by a sequence of rulers between 1 and 100 CE, during the time when the temples were constructed. Projects and investigations such as the Mapping Project and Sempowski’s study are imperative in ameliorating our knowledge of the society of