Tenayuca is a Postclassic (Chichimec/Aztec) Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the town of San Bartolo Tenayuca, in the municipality of Tlalnepantla, Estado de Mexico (State of Mexico), a few kilometers north of Mexico City. According to tradition, Tenayuca was the first capital of the Chichimecs in the valley of Mexico: its largest pyramid is this one, located smack in the middle of town, surrounded by a wall of with stone serpent carvings (called coatepantli).
Rediscovery, Excavation and Reconstruction
At the end of the 19th century, the Mexican archaeologist Leopoldo Batres rediscovered the pyramid mound in the town of San Bartolo Tenayuca. Systematic excavations were carried out within the pyramid and its surroundings in the 1920s and 30s by the Mexican Department of Anthropology (now Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia [INAH]). During these investigations the pyramid was tunneled into and then restored into the form it has today. The famous Mesoamerican architect Ignacio Marquina, along with other scholars, studied the structure and identified six main construction phases.
This photo essay of the late Post Classic (Chichimec) capital of Tenayuca was written by Nicoletta Maestri, occasional contributing writer to Archaeology at About.com, during a recent visit to the archaeological site; and part of the About.com guide to the Aztec Empire.
A bibliography has been collected for this project.
