Zooarchaeology, manufacture and ritual clothing at the ancient city of Teotihuacán, Mexico

Abstract

The city of Teotihuacan (I-VI centuries AD) is the most studied Prehispanic urban center in Mexico from the archaeological and archaeozoological points of view. This allows us to know how faunal resources were managed. Generally leporids, dogs, deer, ducks and turkeys are the most frequently found, particularly related to food consumption activities. In the Teopancazco neighborhood center, which has been extensively excavated from 1997-2005 by Linda R. Manzanilla and her team, a series of adjacent rooms (particularly C251A) show faunal abundance and species diversity way beyond what is generally observed at that site. This fact is complemented by the abundance of bone instruments, particularly needles and instruments for hide preparation. The analysis of all the data allowed us to propose that this space was used as part of the tailoring activities of attires and headdresses used by the intermediate elite that administered the neighborhood in their ritual activities, an option backed by the mural paintings at the site, which represent the “ocean priests”, as Kubler once mentioned. With the spatial analysis of the adjacent rooms, we may propose that the “tailors’ shop” was used as such during two centuries (AD 350-550).