The Formation and Ideology of Ancient States in the Middle America: Excavations at the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan

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The Moon Pyramid, one of the main monuments in Teotihuacan, Mexico, was intensively excavated in order to understand the state ideology, the political structure, and the urbanization process of this planned ancient city. As a joint project with the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, we carried out three to five month fieldwork in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Our tunnel excavation into the core of the Moon Pyramid revealed that there were seven architectural stages (named one to seven), each one superimposed above its earlier one, and that there were five burial complexes. Burial 5, explored at the upper floor of the 5^<th> building in 2002, was composed of three human skeletons of high social status with exceptionally rich offerings, including jadeite personal ornaments that indicated rulership for Maya elites. A new tunnel excavated into-the three-dimensionally center of the 5^<th> building uncovered new tomb called Burial 6. This contained 12 individuals, abundant sacrificed animal remains, and rich offerings. All twelve individuals were evidently victims of a sacrificial ritual, as they were found their hands in a tied position behind their backs, and ten of them completely lacked their cranium, indicating that they were decapitated. Trenches and pits were excavated around the perimeter of the pyramid in order to temporally and spatially locate the Moon Pyramid in its city-wide context. As a result, the long modification process of the Moon Plaza complex is now well understood; the process appears to have reflected expanding state politics, and the contents of the burials would have represented the state ideology and characteristics of its government; particularly, sacrificial rituals and military institutions was stressed as a fundamental factor of the state formation and transformation.