Texas Executions: GW Bush Has Defined Himself, Unforgettably, As Shallow And Callous |
| by Anthony Lewis |
| BOSTON-There have been questions all along about the depth and seriousness of George W. Bush. They have been brought into sharp focus now by a surprising issue: the way the death penalty is administered in Texas. In his comments on that subject Governor Bush has defined himself, unforgettably, as shallow and callous. In his five years as governor of Texas, the state has executed 131 prisoners -- far more than any other state. Mr. Bush has lately granted a stay of execution for the first time, for a DNA test. In answer to questions about that record, Governor Bush has repeatedly said that he has no qualms. "I'm confident," he said last February, "that every person that has been put to death in Texas under my watch has been guilty of the crime charged, and has had full access to the courts." That defense of the record ignores many notorious examples of unfairness in Texas death penalty cases. Lawyers have been under the influence of cocaine during the trial, or been drunk or asleep. One court dismissed a complaint about a lawyer who slept through a trial with the comment that courts are not "obligated to either constantly monitor trial counsel's wakefulness or endeavor to wake counsel should he fall asleep." This past week The Chicago Tribune published a compelling report on an investigation of all 131 death cases in Governor Bush's time. It made chilling reading. In one-third of those cases, the report showed, the lawyer who represented the death penalty defendant at trial or on appeal had been or was later disbarred or otherwise sanctioned. In 40 cases the lawyers presented no evidence at all or only one witness at the sentencing phase of the trial. In 29 cases, the prosecution used testimony from a psychiatrist who -- based on a hypothetical question about the defendant's past -- predicted he would commit future violence. Most of those psychiatrists testified without having examined the defendant: a practice condemned professionally as unethical. Other witnesses included one who was temporarily released from a psychiatric ward to testify, a pathologist who had admitted faking autopsies and a judge who had been reprimanded for lying about his credentials. Asked about the Tribune study, Governor Bush said, "We've adequately answered innocence or guilt" in every case. The defendants, he said, "had full access to a fair trial." There are two ways of understanding that comment. Either Governor Bush was contemptuous of the facts or, on a matter of life and death, he did not care. At the heart of the problem is the Texas way of providing lawyers for defendants too poor to hire their own, as most are in death cases. There is no state system. Judges assign lawyers -- often lawyers who have contributed to their election campaigns. "The State of Texas is a national embarrassment in the area of indigent legal services," a committee of the State Bar of Texas says in a report just approved. Again, Governor Bush has shown no concern about this reality. He vetoed a bill, passed by the legislature, that would have let Texas counties set up a limited public defender program for the poor. Capital punishment, long favored by a majority of Americans, has become a national issue again because of concern about the fairness of its administration. Gov. George Ryan of Illinois, a Republican, imposed a moratorium on executions in that state after 13 men on death row were shown to be innocent. Pat Robertson and other conservatives have called for a national moratorium. The most complete study ever done of the death penalty process, by Prof. James S. Liebman and others at Columbia University, was published the other day. It showed that two-thirds of death convictions or sentences were upset on appeal for such reasons as incompetent defense lawyers or prosecutors who bent the rules. To all this George Bush is seemingly indifferent. Or perhaps not entirely. If he were not running for president, it is doubtful that he would just now have granted his first stay of execution. Next week Gary Graham, convicted of murder on the testimony of a single witness who said she saw him at night from 30 to 40 feet away, is due to be executed. Will Governor Bush care? |
Sept. 16, 2006 The Sun-Sentinel By Linda Kleindienst TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida's death penalty system is plagued with problems of fairness, accuracy and racial disparity in sentencing, according to a new report by a group of Florida lawyers and jurists. Working under the auspices of the American Bar Association's Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project, the group studied the state's capital punishment system for more than 18 months before releasing their recommendations Saturday. The report criticized the state for: the number of innocent inmates sent to await execution; a racial disparity that shows those convicted of killing a white victim are far more likely to get a death sentence; the lack of oversight and funding for attorneys who handle Death Row appeals; and a death sentencing process that requires majority, not unanimous, jury agreement. "Florida has released more people from Death Row than any other state, which suggests the system has serious problems," said Christopher Slobogin, a University of Florida law professor who chaired the eight-member group. "It is small comfort that no one recently executed in Florida has been proven innocent, since some of them were not able to present all the proof they had and efforts at exoneration usually end once the person is dead." Funding for the study came from the ABA and the European Union. Members of the team included a circuit judge, a state attorney, a former Florida Supreme Court justice and a former public defender, many of them death penalty supporters. The report identified 11 problem areas in the state system, including the high number of inmates found innocent and released from Death Row, 22 since 1973 - more than any state in the nation. Combined, those exonerated spent about 150 years in prison before being released. "There is much work to be done to insure that innocent people are not put to death," said Mark Schlakman, program director for the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University and a member of the study group. As of Friday, there were 377 inmates on Florida's Death Row. Some of the exonerated inmates were cleared by new DNA testing. "There is a difficult balance between swiftness and fairness, but the governor has been a great proponent of extending the time on DNA testing. He also signed into law a measure that did away with the deadline altogether," said Alia Faraj, spokeswoman director for Gov. Jeb Bush. After reviewing previous death penalty studies, including one done by the Florida Supreme Court, the report noted that those convicted of killing white victims are far more likely to receive a death sentence and be executed than those convicted of killing non-white victims. Since 1979, when Florida reinstated the death penalty, none of the 60 executed have been white defendants who killed African-American victims. While U.S. Supreme Court decisions in recent years have stressed the importance of unanimous jury decisions to impose the death penalty, Florida's law requires only a simple majority. Last year, state Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero urged the Legislature to make the change, suggesting that Florida's death penalty law could be open to attack. But the Legislature this year refused to budge. The bill to require unanimity was filed by state Rep. Jack Seiler, D-Wilton Manors, but was stymied by election year politics. "We need to realize that the more efficient our death penalty system is, the more accurate it is, the better off we all are as a society," said Seiler, who supports the death penalty. Attorney General Charlie Crist, the Republican candidate for governor, has urged the Legislature not to make any changes, suggesting it might weaken the state's law. He has called the current system constitutional and appropriate to punish the guilty "as well as deter potential future murderers." It takes a unanimous jury vote to convict a person of first degree murder, but Crist said the same is not required in the sentencing phase because Florida's juries only make recommendations on life or death, they do not impose the sentence. "Florida law requires that the jury and judge hear and consider all factors that might make a convicted murderer a candidate for life in prison instead of receiving the death penalty," Crist wrote legislative leaders late last year. "Therefore, the jury's recommendation is an informed action representing the collective wisdom of 12 everyday Florida citizens." The team that wrote the report measured Florida law, procedure and practices against protocols developed by the ABA to evaluate fairness and accuracy in the imposition of the death penalty. While the ABA has recommended a moratorium on executions until all states have eliminated flaws in their system, the Florida report takes no position on a moratorium. The group has recommended the state establish commissions to investigate wrongful convictions and to review claims of factual innocence while also suggesting the state adopt new standards for the qualifications of and payment for death row appeals attorneys, create new rules on the relevance of mental disability and make the clemency process more transparent. "Our justice system seeks to provide a fair way of making accurate decisions about innocence and guilt," said ABA President Karen J. Mathis. "In death penalty cases, where people's lives are on the line, it is particularly important that we do all we can to ensure that the system is fair." | ||||||||||
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Florida Death Penalty System Criticised
Mark Weisenmiller
TAMPA, Florida, Sep 26 (IPS) - An influential lawyer's group in the United States has strongly criticised Florida's death penalty system, calling it ambiguous and secretive.
The American Bar Association (ABA) Death Penalty Moratorium Project also stated in a detailed, 450-page report that Florida has the highest number - 22 -- of innocent death row prisoners who have been exonerated since 1973.
That alarming number prompted the ABA to study Florida's justice system first. It eventually plans a review of 16 states in all. The report, funded by the influential law association and the European Union, identified 11 problem areas in total. Among its findings:
·The state of Florida did not provide adequate legal counsel to its poor prisoners after they have been convicted.
·Florida is the only U.S. state which does not require juries to vote unanimously on capital punishment cases.
·The southern state shows a racial disparity, making a non-white far more likely to be sentenced to death for killing a white victim than a white prisoner to be convicted for killing a person of colour.
·Florida has a high number of inmates - an estimated 50 percent -- with severe mental disabilities on death row. Some of them, the report stated, were disabled at the time of the offence; others became ill after conviction and sentencing.
·Florida's clemency process is full of "ambiguity and secrecy."
The ABA issued its report four days before Florida executed Clarence Hill, 48, the inmate who sought to block his death in an appeal to the US Supreme Court in January. Hill's death was the first execution in Florida in 2006. Moreover, the state this week has set Oct. 25 as an execution date for Denny Rolling, who was found guilty of murdering five college students 16 years ago.
"The people in charge of the death penalty have made mistakes. No one likes to admit that they made a mistake and the ABA report shows that. There's no accountability in the (state's death penalty) system," Mark Elliott, spokesman for the anti-capital punishment organisation Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty told IPS.
The ABA panel reviewed previous death penalty studies, including one by the state's own Supreme Court, and concluded that defendants convicted of killing whites are more likely to receive death sentences that those found guilty of murdering a non-white.
None of the 60 prisoners executed by the state of Florida since 1979, when the state re-instated capital punishment, have been white defendants found guilty of killing a black victim. A 2003 Amnesty International report found that even though blacks and whites are murder victims in nearly equal numbers in the U.S., some 80 percent of inmates executed since 1973 have been killed for murders involving white victims.
In 2000, Gov. John Ellis "Jeb" Bush appointed a commission to investigate racial bias among the state's death row inmates. Then-Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, who currently is running for Governor in the November elections, "did nothing with the commission's report. He kept things at status quo," Mark Schlakman, director of the Centre for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University and a member of the panel told IPS.
The first of four key recommendations by the ABA, then, is the creation of two commissions independent of each other. One committee would specialise in studying the underlying causes of wrongful convictions in death penalty cases. The other would be comprised of a panel of judges that would review claims of factual innocence in existing cases.
The 22 Florida death row inmates exonerated so far have served a total of 150 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, Christopher Slobogin, a University of Florida law professor who led the eight-member team told IPS.
The ABA panel also recommended that Florida eliminate its statutory lawyer fee of $3,500 which must be paid by the defendant.. Instead, the state should allow for greater options in obtaining payments for services rendered. Moreover it wants state-appointed attorneys to meet minimum nationally-recognised requirements for lawyers defending death row prisoners.
Moreover, the state must immediately require a jury's capital punishment verdict to be unanimous and must drop a law that allows judges to overrule a jury decision, the panel recommended. In 2005, a state Supreme Court Justice urged the Florida legislature to amend its law requiring unanimity, saying Florida's death penalty rules could be open to attack. That bill did not pass.
One recommendation that Slobogin said could be implemented quickly is that the jury instructions by judges presiding over capital punishment cases should be uniform throughout Florida.
"It's important to know that our report does not come out for or against the death penalty," Slobogin told IPS. "Our point was to bring out the concerns and needs and some problems with the death penalty in Florida with some recommendations to address these issues."
The ABA panel was comprised of death penalty opponents as well as supporters and included a circuit judge, a state attorney, a former Florida Supreme Court justice and a former public defender.
"The composition of the team was important," Schlakman said, because the panel wanted to include all perspectives. It is believed to be the first comprehensive and impartial study of the death penalty as it is operated in Florida.
State officials said they would study the report, but have not yet promised to implement the changes.
"We're looking at the report...but I believe that the death penalty process here (in Florida) is protected by an appeals process that is extensive. It can go on for ten years," Gov. Bush told reporters.
It is doubtful that Gov. Bush will implement the recommendations in the report, as he will be leaving office, due to term limits, after this November's election. That job will fall to either Jim Davis of Tampa, the Democratic candidate for Governor, or Crist, the Republican candidate for Governor.
In the past, Crist has urged the legislature not to make any changes in the law because it might weaken it. He has called the state's current regulations necessary in order to "deter potential future murderers."
Still, Elliott, the death penalty opponent, added that the report "should be a wake-up call for both Governor Bush and whoever the new Governor will be to start to listen to people who have various viewpoints about the death penalty."
"It's a non-partisan problem, no matter if a Democrat or Republican is Governor, for not investigating problems that have long been in the system," he added. (END/2006)
Module 20 Problem Solving and Creativity
Torrance framework for Creative Thinking
A common framework for creative thinking processes is described by Torrance (1979)
Fluency – refers to the production of a great number of ideas or alternate solutions to a problem.
Implies understanding, not just remembering information that is learned.
Flexibility - refers to the production of ideas that show a variety of possibilities or realms of thoughts. It involves the ability to see things from different points of view, to use many different approaches or strategies.
Elaboration – is the process of enhancing ideas by providing more details. Additional detail clarity improves interest in, and understanding of, the topic.
Originality – involves the production of ideas that are unique or unusual. It involves synthesis or putting information about a topic back together in a new way.
Creative Problem Solving
Van Gundy’s ‘6x2 stages’ form or Brandsford’s IDEAL model.
Stage 1: Mess Findings: Sensitive yourself (scan, search) for issues (concerns, challenges, opportunities, etc.) that need to be tackled.
· Divergent Technique –brainstorming to identify desirable outcomes
· Convergent Technique- includes the identification of hot spots
Stage 2: Data findings: Gather information about the problem
· Divergent Technique- includes five Ws and H and listing of wants, sources, and data.
· Convergent Technique- Mind mapping to sort and classify the information gathered.
Stage 3: Problem findings: convert a fuzzy statement of the problem into a broad statement more suitable for idea finding.
· Divergent Technique- techniques include asking ‘why’?
· Convergent Technique – reformulation of problem-statement to meet the criteria that they contain only one problem and no criteria, and selection of the most promising statement
Stage 4: Idea finding: generate as many ideas as possible
· Divergence using any of a very wide range of idea gathering technique. The general rules of Classic Brainstorming (such as deferring judgment) are likely to-pin all of these.
· Convergence can again involve hotspots or mind-mapping, the combining of different ideas, and short-listing of the most promising handful, perhaps with some thought for the more obvious evaluation criteria, but not over-restrictively.
Stage 5: Solution findings: Generate and select obvious evaluation criteria (using an expansion/contraction cycle) and develop (which may include combining) the short listed ideas from Idea Finding as much as you can in the light of these criteria.
Stage 6: Acceptance findings: How can the suggestion you have just selected be made up to standard and put into practice? Shun negatively, and continue to apply deferred judgment- problems are exposed to be solved, not to dishearten progress. Action plans are better develop in small groups of 2-3 rather than a large group. Particularly for people problems it is often worth developing several alternative action plans.
Submitted by: JACIN GENLAN NARAGA
BSED2 SOCIAL STUDIES
Educational Technology 2 is concern in integrating technology into teaching and learning. In which the course objectives are:
1. To provide education in the use of technology in instruction by providing knowledge and skills on technology integration-in-instruction to learners
2. To impart learning experiences in instructional technology-supported instructional planning.
3.To acquaint students on Information Technology or IT related learning theories with the computer as a tutor
4. To learn to use and evaluate computer-based educational resources.
5. To engage learners on practical technology integration issues including managing IT classrooms, use of the Internet for learning, cooperative learning through the use of information technology
6. To inculcate higher-level thinking and creativity among students while providing them knowledge of IT-related learning theories.
I am already aware on how the computer work. But in my part not mainly an aide for teaching but for entertainment and communication. In educational technology subject, it enhance my computer learning in more purposeful way. In some programs like excel, I use excel for business purposes before and its normal for me to use formulas,and now in edtech 2 my teacher teach us into more deeper one. But the most thrilling part in this subject is being the pioneering students in the college of education here in the UB to do online class. At first engaging in this kind of activity is not easy since many are hesitant to join the evolution of teaching process. I know we are the experimental class in which they will know weither this one is a succes or failure. Using blogspot as a means of establishing an online class is not easy one because most of us are not familiar on how blogspot work. In my part it took me many hours to discover and learn how blogspot suppose to work. My blogspot is my link to the future. Creating this blogspot allow me to store my knowledge that i could impart to my future students.
(to be continued)
When work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. Work on the temple continued until 432; the Parthenon, then, represents the tangible and visible efflorescence of Athenian imperial power, unencumbered by the depradations of the Peloponnesian War. Likewise, it symbolizes the power and influence of the Athenian politician, Perikles, who championed its construction.
Some historians believe that Athens concluded a peace treaty with Persia in 449, two years before work began on the Parthenon. The significance of this would be that the Delian League/Athenian Empire continued to exist, even after the reason for its existence (a mutual defense league against the Persians) had ceased to be valid. In other words it was now openly acknowledged that Athens was not just the head of the Greek defense league but actually an imperial master over other Greek states. The decision by the Athenians in 454 BC to move the League treasury from the Panhellenic sanctuary at Delos to the Athenian acropolis points in the same direction. Because the Parthenon was built with League funds, the building may be read as an expression of the confidence of the Athenians in this newly naked imperialism. But the piety of this undertaking should not be underestimated; the Persians had sacked the temples on the Athenian acropolis in 480, and rebuilding them fulfilled, in Bury's words, the Athenians' "debt of gratitude to heaven for the defeat of the Mede."
Architectural Features
The Parthenon is a Doric peripteral temple, which means that it consists of a rectangular floor plan with a series of low steps on every side, and a colonnade (8 x 17) of Doric columns extending around the periphery of the entire structure. Each entrance has an additional six columns in front of it. The larger of the two interior rooms, the naos, housed the cult statue. The smaller room (the opisthodomos) was used as a treasury. Here is a plan of the temple:
It was built to replace two earlier temples of Athena on the Acropolis. One of these, of which almost no trace remains today, stood south of the Parthenon (between the Parthenon and the Erechtheum). The other, which was still being built at the time of the Persian sack in 480, was on the same spot as the Parthenon. We know the names of the architects (Iktinos and Kallikrates) and also of the sculptor (Pheidias) who made the massive chryselephantine cult statue of the goddess.
The Orders
The three main types of columns used in Greek temples and other public buildings are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The truest and most basic difference among the orders has to do with proportions (Doric columns, for example, being thicker and shorter, Ionic columns taller and slimmer). As a shortcut, the orders may be distinguished most easily by their capitals (the tops of the columns). As you can see from the following examples, the Doric capital has the simplest design; the Ionic has the curlicues called volutes, and the Corinthian has the acanthus leaves:
Doric Capital Ionic Capital Corinthian Capital
Doric is not only a type of column, but an "order"; this means that temples of the Doric order not only have this type of column, but also have a certain structure at the upper levels. The different types of orders (column plus entablature) are illustrated by these diagrams, from Perseus: Doric order, and Ionic order. The Doric order is characterized by the series of triglyphs and metopes on the entablature. Each metope was occupied by a panel of relief sculpture.
The Parthenon combines elements of the Doric and Ionic orders. Basically a Doric peripteral temple, it features a continuous sculpted frieze borrowed from the Ionic order, as well as four Ionic columns supporting the roof of the opisthodomos.
The Metopes
The metopes of the Parthenon all represented various instances of the struggle between the forces of order and justice, on the one hand, and criminal chaos on the other. On the west side, the mythical battle against the Amazons (Amazonomachy); on the south, the battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs (Centauromachy); on the east, the battle between the gods and the giants (Gigantomachy); on the north, the Greeks versus the Trojans. Of the panels the best preserved are those showing the Centauromachy. Here are South Metope 31 and 30 (compare the discussion in Pollitt, Art & Experience, 82-83):
For a complete catalogue, with images and descriptions of all the Parthenon metopes, see Perseus' Parthenon Metope Page (photos will be available only if you are on a Reed computer or a computer on another campus which has enhanced access to the Perseus photos by license agreement), and theAustralian National University collection (photos, but no text).
The Pedimental Sculptures
These relief sculptures, larger than those of the metopes, occupied the triangular space above the triglyphs and metopes. Those at the west end of the temple depicted the contest between Poseidon and Athena for the right to be the patron deity of Athens (Athena's gift of the olive tree was preferred over Poseidon's spring). The eastern pedimental group showed the birth of Athena from Zeus' head. The pedimental sculpture suffered badly when the Parthenon was hit by a Venetian shell in 1687 and the powder magazine inside exploded. This reclining god (probably Dionysus) from the east pediment gives some sense of the quality of the sculpture:
For a complete catalogue, with images and descriptions of all the Parthenon pedimental sculpture, see Perseus' Parthenon East Pediment Page and West Pediment Page (photos will be available only if you are on a Reed computer or a computer on another campus which has enhanced access to the Perseus photos by license agreement).
The Frieze
The Parthenon frieze runs around the upper edge of the temple wall. Its relatively small size (3 feet 5 inches tall) and placement (inside from the triglyphs and metopes) made it fairly hard to see from the ground. Unlike the metopes, the frieze has a single subject on all four sides. On three sides (north, west, and south) it depicts a procession of horsemen, musicians, sacrificial animals, and other figures with various ritual functions. On the east side there is a scene centered on a child handing a folded cloth to an older man. On one side of them seated gods and goddess are in attendance; on the other, two girls are carrying something. Although the state of preservation is poor, the interpretation of the subject has hotly debated. Most scholars agree that it represents the Panathenaic procession, but some think it is a mythical, "original" procession, while others believe that it is the procession which took place in the same period as the temple was built, and that this illustrates the (over-)confident spirit of the Athenians, who dared to put themselves where ordinarily only gods and heroes might be found.
Recently the debate has taken a new turn with the publication of a radical original theory by Joan B. Connelly. Here is a detailed summary of Connelly's ideas and some questions about them. Connelly's theory depends on a reinterpretation of this scene from the east frieze:
For a complete set of images and descriptions of the Parthenon frieze, see the Perseus Parthenon Frieze Page (photos will be available only if you are on a Reed computer or a computer on another campus which has enhanced access to the Perseus photos by license agreement).
Ancient Authors on the Parthenon
Pausanias's Description of the Parthenon
Plutarch on Perikles' Troubles with the Parthenon Accounts
Other Views and Resources
Perseus' Main Parthenon Page
T.R. Martin's Chapter on the Periclean Building Program
T.R. Martin's Sub-section on the Parthenon
Plan, showing the layout of walls and columns, from Perseus
Reconstruction of the doors of the Parthenon, from Perseus
Perseus' Main Entry for the Ur-Parthenon
Minott Kerr's Lecture on the Parthenon
| The Coliseum (Coloseum, Colosseum), was built during the reign of Emperor Vespasiano c. 72 AD and dedicated in 80 AD by his son Titus. The popular name of Coliseum came about because the immense oval stadium was situated next to a colossal statue of Nero. The original name of this ancient Roman sports arena, the largest arena of its kind, is The Amphitheatrum Flavium. |  |
 | Over 64 metres high with eighty entrances, the Coliseum could hold upwards of 50,000 spectators. Public events such as gladiator fights, mock naval battles and wild animal hunts were held at the Coliseum. During the staged fights as many as 10,000 people were killed. Fighters were slaves, prisoners or volunteers. Spectators saw persecuted Christians killed by lions. After 404 AD gladiatorial battles were no longer held, but animals such as lions, elephants, snakes and panthers continued to be massacred in the name of sport until the 6th century. Mock naval battles were arranged by removing the heavy wooden flooring and flooding the lower cells, which usually housed the animals and prisoners. As gladiator fights proved to be more popular, the naval battles were ultimately moved to another site, and the wooden floors made permanent. During the middle ages, stones from the Coliseum were removed for new buildings. Today, in Rome, the Coliseum is one of its most famous landmarks and tourist attractions. Although it survives only as a ruin, it still rates as one of the finest examples of Roman architecture and engineering. |
Pyramids of the Sun and Moon in Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan was, at its height in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas. The city during its existence was larger than any European city of the same era, possibly including Rome. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan. Its influence spread throughout Mesoamerica; evidence of Teotihuacano presence, if not outright political and economic control, can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region. The city was located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, Mexico, approximately 40 km (24.8 mi) northeast of Mexico City. It covers a total surface area of 83 kms and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
The early history of Teotihuacan is quite mysterious, and the origin of its founders is debated. For many years, archaeologists believed it was built by the Toltec. This belief was based on colonial period texts such as the Florentine Codex which attributed the site to the Toltecs. However, the Nahuatl word "Toltec" generally means "craftsman of the highest level" and may not always refer to the archaeological Toltec civilization centered at Tula, Hidalgo. Since Toltec civilization flourished centuries after Teotihuacan, they cannot be understood as the city's founders.
In the Late Formative period, a number of urban centers arose in central Mexico. The most prominent of these appears to have been Cuicuilco, on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco. Scholars have speculated that the eruption of the Xitle volcano may have prompted a mass emigration out of the central valley and into the Teotihuacan valley. These settlers may have founded and/or accelerated the growth of Teotihuacan.
Other scholars have put forth the Totonac people as the founders of Teotihuacan, and the debate continues to this day. There is evidence that at least some of the people living in Teotihuacan came from areas influenced by the Teotihuacano civilization, including the Zapotec, Mixtec and Maya peoples. The culture and architecture of Teotihuacan was influenced by the Olmec people, who are considered to be the "mother civilization" of Mesoamerica. The earliest buildings at Teotihuacan date to about 200 BCE, and the largest pyramid, the Pyramid of the Sun, was completed by 100 CE.
The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building in Teotihuacán and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. Found along the Avenue of the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela, and in the shadow of the massive mountain Cerro Gordo, the pyramid is part of a large complex in the heart of the city.
The name Pyramid of the Sun comes from the Aztecs, who visited the city of Teotihuacán centuries after it was abandoned; the name given to the pyramid by the Teotihuacanos is unknown. It was constructed in two phases. The first construction stage, around 100 A.D., brought the pyramid to nearly the size it is today. The second round of construction resulted in its completed size of 738 feet (225 meters) across and 246 feet (75 meters) high, making it the third largest pyramid in the world behind the Great Pyramid of Cholula and The Great Pyramid. The second phase also saw the construction of an altar atop of the pyramid, which has not survived into modern times. The Adosada platform was added to the pyramid in the early third century, at around the same time that the Ciudadela and Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent were constructed.
Over the structure the ancient Teotihuacanos finished their pyramid with lime plaster imported from surrounding areas, on which they painted brilliantly colored murals. While the pyramid has endured for centuries, the paint and plaster have not and are no longer visible. Few images are thought to have been included in the mural decorations on the sides of the pyramid. Jaguar heads and paws, stars, and snake rattles are among the few images associated with the pyramids.
It is thought that the pyramid venerated a deity within Teotihuacan society but the destruction of the temple on top of the pyramid, by both deliberate and natural forces prior to the archaeological study of the site, has so far prevented identification of the pyramid with any particular deity. Some scholars have suggested that the deity of the pyramid was the Great Goddess, one of two major Teotihuacan deities and one of the few goddesses in ancient Mesoamerica. However, little evidence exists to support this theory.
Modern investigations
The first major archaeological excavation of the site was done by Leopoldo Batres in 1906. Batres supervised restoration of the Pyramid for the 1910 centennial of Mexican independence. Some aspects of Batres' reconstruction of the pyramid have been questioned by later archaeologists. Subsequent excavations of Teotihuacan have continued to the present. In 1925 Pedro Dosal discovered skeletons at the 4 corners of the foundations of the temple, which he interpreted as human sacrifices at the dedication of the temple.
Structure location and orientation
The orientation of the structure may hold some anthropological significance. The pyramid is oriented slightly northwest of the horizon point of the setting sun on two days a year, August 12 and April 29, which are about one divinatory calendar year apart for the Teotihuacanos. The day of August 12 is significant because it would have marked the date of the beginning of the present era and the initial day of the Maya long count calendar. In addition, many important astrological events can be viewed from the location of the pyramid that are important in terms of both agriculture and belief systems of the ancient society.
The pyramid was built over a man-made tunnel leading to a "cave" located six meters down beneath the center of the structure. Originally this was believed to be a naturally formed lava tube cave and interpreted as possibly the place of Chicomoztoc, the place of human origin according to Nahua legends. More recent excavations have suggested that the space is man-made instead, and could have served as a royal tomb. In 2008 scientists used muon detectors to try to find other chambers within the interior of the pyramid, but substantial looting has prevented the discovery of a function for the chambers in Teotihuacan society.
Recovered artifacts
Only a few caches of artifacts have been found in and around the pyramid. Obsidian arrowheads and human figurines have been discovered inside the pyramid and similar objects have been found at the nearby Pyramid of the Moon and Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent in the Ciudadela. These objects may have represented sacrificial victims. In addition, burial sites of children have been found in excavations at the corners of the pyramid. It is believed that these burials were part of a sacrificial ritual dedicating the building of the pyramid.
The "Temple of the Feathered Serpent" of Teotihuacan is an important religious and political[citation needed] center of the city. The Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent has revealed a great deal about religious ceremonies, burials, and politics in ancient Mesoamerica for the site of Teotihuacan. The structure contains some of the earliest-known representations of the Mesoamerican "plumed serpent" deity figure, most generally known by the term Quetzalcoatl, from the Nahuatl language of the much-later Aztec peoples.
The Feathered Serpent Pyramid is located at the Pre-Columbian site of Teotihuacán, which was at one time the largest city in the western hemisphere. The Feathered Serpent Pyramid is located in the Ciudadela at the South end of the Avenue of the Dead, a long avenue which is surrounded by platforms displaying the talud-tablero architectural style.
The Ciudadela
The Ciudadela is a Spanish term first used when the Spanish conquistadors arrived at Teotihuacán. It is a structure with high walls and a large courtyard that surrounds the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent. The Ciudadela¹s courtyard is massive enough that it could house the entire adult population of Teotihuacán within its walls, which was estimated to be one hundred to two hundred thousand people during its peak. Within the Ciudadela there are several monumental structures, including the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, two mansions on the North and South side of the pyramid and the Adosada platform. The Adosada platform is located on the front, West side of the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, blocking its front view.
Architecture
The Feathered Serpent Pyramid is built in the talud-tablero style, with several platforms forming the pyramid. In between every platform there is a wall where a feathered serpent¹s head sticks outward. Its body wraps around the entire pyramid. Along with the feathered serpent there is also another figure that some believe is a representation of a crocodile or a representation of the deity Tlaloc. These figures alternate around the pyramid. In the eyes of these figures there is a spot for obsidian glass to be put in, so when the light hits, its eyes would glimmer. In between the heads a row of three shells can be found, showing that the people of Teotihuacán were trading with people along the Mexican coast. In antiquity the entire pyramid was painted. Today it is hidden by the adosada platform built in the 4th century hinting at political restructurisation of Teotihuacan during that time.
Burials at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent
The people of Teotihuacan believed in ritual sacrifice to satisfy the gods. Multiple burials were found at the pyramid, and it is believed that they were sacrificed as part of the dedication of the temple. The numbers of the burials are 4, 8, 9, 13, 18, and 20; these numbers represent significant ideology in Mesoamerica. There are four directions in the world, nine layers of their underworld, thirteen layers of heaven and earth, and a ritual calendar of thirteen months of twenty days or two hundred and sixty day calendar, and a solar calendar of eighteen months of twenty days.
Relation to the Calendar
As stated above there was a correlation between the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent and a calendar for the people of Teotihuacán. The pyramid also is thought to contain two hundred and sixty feathered serpent heads between the platforms. Each of these feathered serpents also contains an open area in its mouth. This open area is big enough to put a place holder in. Thus, it is believed that the people of Teotihuacán would move this place marker around the pyramid to represent the ritual calendar. When a spiritual day would arrive the people would gather within the walls of the Ciudadela and celebrate the ritual.
Political influences
The Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent was not only a religious center but also a political center as well. The rulers of Teotihuacán were not only the leaders of men; they were also the spiritual leaders of the city. The two mansions near the pyramid are thought to have been occupied by powerful families. An interesting feature of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid is that there are examples of a shift in power or ideology in Teotihuacán and for the Pyramid itself. The construction of the Adosada platform came much later than the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. The Adosada platform is built directly in front of the pyramid and blocks its front view. Thus, it is thought that the political leaders lost favor or that the ideology of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid lost virtue and was covered up by the Adosada.
Teotihuacan reached its zenith between 150 and 450, when it was the center of a powerful culture whose influence extended through much of the Mesoamerican region. At its height the city covered over 30 kms (over 11 1/2 square miles), and probably housed a population of over 150,000 people, possibly as many as 250,000. Various districts in the city housed people from across the Teotihuacano region of influence that spread south as far as Guatemala. Notably absent from the city are fortifications and military structures.
The nature of political and cultural interactions between Teotihuacan and the centers of the Maya region (as well as elsewhere in Mesoamerica) has been a long-standing and significant area for debate in Mesoamerican scholarship. It is clearly established that substantial exchange and interaction occurred over the centuries from the Terminal Preclassic to the Mid Classic period, and that "Teotihuacan-inspired ideologies" and motifs persisted at Maya centers into the Late Classic long after Teotihuacan itself had declined.
However, there are several schools of thought contending the extent and degree of Teotihuacano influence, which range from a direct and even militaristic dominance, to one where the adoption of 'foreign' traits was part of a selective, conscious and bi-directional cultural diffusion. But because of new discoveries, it now seems that Teotihuacan was not much more different from the later empires, such as the Toltec and Aztec. It is believed that Teotihuacán had a major influence on the Preclassic and Classic Maya, most likely by conquering several Maya centers and regions including Tikal and the region of Peten, and influencing Maya culture.
Architectural styles prominent at Teotihuacan are also found widely dispersed at a number of distant Mesoamerican sites, which some researchers have interpreted as evidence for Teotihuacan's far-reaching interactions and political or militaristic dominance.
A style that has been particularly associated with Teotihuacan is known as talud-tablero, in which an inwards-sloping external side of a structure (talud) is surmounted by a rectangular panel (tablero). Variants of the generic style are found in a number of Maya region sites, including Tikal, Kaminaljuyu, Copan, Becan, and Oxkintok, and particularly in the Petén Basin and the central Guatemalan highlands.
However, it has been established that the talud-tablero style pre-dates its earliest appearance at Teotihuacan in the Early Classic period, and instead seems to have first originated in the Tlaxcala-Puebla region during the Preclassic.
Analyses have also been able to trace the development into local variants of the talud-tablero style at sites such as Tikal, where its use precedes the 5th-century appearance of iconographic motifs shared with Teotihuacan. Thus it appears that the talud-tablero style disseminated through Mesoamerica generally from the end of the Preclassic and not specifically or only via Teotihuacano influence. It is unclear how or from where the style spread into the Maya region.
The city was a center of industry, home to many potters, jewelers and craftsmen. Teotihuacan is known for producing a great number of obsidian artifacts. Unfortunately no ancient Teotihuacano non-ideographic texts are known to exist (or known to have existed), but mentions of the city in inscriptions from Maya cities show that Teotihuacan nobility travelled to and perhaps conquered local rulers as far away as Honduras. Maya inscriptions mention an individual nicknamed by scholars as "Spearthrower Owl", apparently ruler of Teotihuacan, who reigned for over 60 years and installed his relatives as rulers of Tikal and Uaxactun in Guatemala.
Most of what we infer about the culture at Teotihuacan comes from the murals that adorn the site (and others, like the Wagner Murals, found in private collections) and from hieroglyphic inscriptions made by the Maya describing their encounters with Teotihuacano conquerors. The creation of murals, perhaps tens of thousands of murals, reached its height between 450 and 650 CE. The painters' artistry was unrivalled in Mesoamerica and has been compared with that of Florence, Italy.
Teotihuacano culture
People
There is archaeological evidence that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic city, with distinct Zapotec, Mixtec, Maya and what seem to be Nahua quarters. The Totonacs have always maintained that they were the ones who built it, a story that was corroborated later by the Aztecs.
Language
In his 2001 paper,[17] Terrence Kaufman presents linguistic evidence suggesting that an important ethnic group in Teotihuacán was of Totonacan and/or Mixe-Zoquean linguistic affiliation. He uses this to explain general influences from Totonacan and Mixe-Zoquean languages in many other Mesoamerican languages many of which do not have any known history of contact with either of the above-mentioned groups.
Religion
The religion of Teotihuacan is similar to those of other Mesoamerican cultures. Many of the same gods were worshiped, including the Feathered Serpent and The Rain god. Teotihuacan was a major religious center, and the priests probably had a great deal of political power. As with other Mesoamerican cultures, Teotihuacanos practiced human sacrifice. Human bodies and animal sacrifices have been found during excavations of the pyramids at Teotihuacan; it is believed that when the buildings were expanded, sacrifices were made to dedicate the new building. The victims were probably enemy warriors captured in battle and then brought to the city to be ritually sacrificed so the city could prosper. Some were decapitated, some had their hearts removed, others were killed by being hit several times over the head and some were even buried alive. Animals that were considered sacred and represented mythical powers and military might were also buried alive but imprisoned in cages: cougars, a wolf, eagles, a falcon, an owl, and even venomous snakes.
Site Layout
The city's broad central avenue, called "Avenue of the Dead" (a translation from its Nahuatl name Miccoatli), is flanked by impressive ceremonial architecture, including the immense Pyramid of the Sun (second largest in the New World after the Great Pyramid of Cholula) and the Pyramid of the Moon. Along the Avenue of the Dead are many smaller talud-tablero platforms. The Aztecs believed they were tombs, inspiring the name of the avenue. Now they are known to be ceremonial platforms that were topped with temples. Further down the Avenue of the Dead is the area known as the Citadel, containing the ruined Temple of the Feathered Serpent. This area was a large plaza surrounded by temples that formed the religious and political center of the city. The name "Citadel" was given to it by the Spanish, who believed it was a fort. Most of the common people lived in large apartment buildings spread across the city. Many of the buildings contained workshops that produced pottery and other goods.
The geographical layout of Teotihuacan is a good example of the Mesoamerican tradition of planning cities, settlements and buildings as a representation of the Teotihuacano view of the Universe. Its urban grid is aligned to precisely 15.5º east of North. The Street of the Dead, in particular, seems to line up with Cerro Gordo to the north of the Pyramid of the Moon. Pecked-cross circles throughout the city and in the surrounding regions indicate how the grid was managed over long distances.
Archaeological site
Knowledge of the huge ruins of Teotihuacan was never lost. After the fall of the city, various squatters lived on the site. During Aztec times, the city was a place of pilgrimage and identified with the myth of Tollan, the place where the sun was created. Teotihuacán astonished the Spanish conquistadores during the post-conquest era. Today Teotihuacan is one of the most noted archaeological attractions in Mexico.
Excavations and investigations
Minor archaeological excavations were conducted in the 19th century, and in 1905 major projects of excavation and restoration began under archaeologist Leopoldo Batres. The Pyramid of the Sun was restored to celebrate the centennial of Mexican Independence in 1910. Excavations at the Ciudadela were carried out in the 1920s, supervised by Manuel Gamio; other sections of the site were excavated in the 1940s and 50s. The first site-wide project of restoration and excavation was carried out by INAH from 1960-65 and supervised by Jorge Acosta. This focused on clearing the Street of the Dead, consolidating the structures facing it, and excavating the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl.
During the installation of a 'sound and light' show in 1971, the entrance to a tunnel and cave system underneath the Pyramid of the Sun was accidentally discovered. Long thought to be a natural cave, more recent examinations have established the tunnel was entirely artificial. The interior of Pyramid of the Sun has never been fully excavated.
Another major program of excavation and restoration was carried out 1980-82 at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent and the Street of the Dead Complex. Most recently, a series of excavations at the Pyramid of the Moon have greatly expanded evidence of cultural practices.
Collapse
It was previously believed that sometime during the 7th or 8th centuries, the city was sacked and burned by invaders, possibly the Toltecs. More recent evidence, however, seems to indicate that the burning was limited to the structures and dwellings associated primarily with the elite class. Some see this as evidence that the burning was from an internal uprising and that the invasion theory is flawed due to the fact that early archaeological work on the city was focused exclusively on the palaces and temples, places used by the elites, and because all of these sites showed burning, archaeologists concluded that the whole city was burned. Instead, it is now known that the destruction in the city was focused on major civic structures along the Avenue of the Dead.
Some statues seem to have been destroyed in a methodical way, their fragments dispersed. Evidence for population decline beginning around the 6th century lends some support to the internal unrest hypothesis. The decline of Teotihucán has been correlated with the droughts related to the Climate changes of 535-536 CE. This theory is supported by the archaeological remains that show a rise in the percentage of juvenile skeletons with evidence of malnutrition during the 6th century. This does not conflict with either of the above theories however since both increased warfare and internal unrest can also be effects of a general period of drought and famine.
Other nearby centers such as Cholula, Xochicalco, and Cacaxtla attempted to fill the powerful vacuum left by Teotihuacan's decline. They may have aligned themselves against Teotihuacan in an attempt to reduce its influence and power. The art and architecture at these sites shows an interest in emulating Teotihuacán forms, but also a more eclectic mix of motifs and iconography from other parts of Mesoamerica, particularly the Maya region.
Pyramid of the Moon Photo Gallery
Pyramids and Temples of Mesoamerica
SACRED PLACES AND TEACHINGS INDEX
