204 54 87 82 The natural world was not only a source of religious and artistic inspiration but also provided many highly prized materials. Among these were the feathers of jungle birds, such as the quetzal, obtained from the Maya area far to the south of Teotihuacan.
0 0 198 184 Priestly acolytes offer worship to a water goddess.
292 0 155 142 Players with sticks attempt to hit a ball. This may be a variant of the widespread ballgame, which was usually played by using shoulders, hips, knees and elbows to hit the large heavy rubber ball. This dangerous and difficult sport had a cosmological significance.
264 143 286 117 Lakes and rivers were important to the people of Teotihuacan not only for drinking water and aquatic foodstuffs but also to provide water for irrigation. Agricultural prosperity in this arid environment was dependent upon irrigation, using artificial water channels.
372 261 178 109 Blood, and particularly the blood of important people, played a key part in Mesoamerican religious activities. People, generally noble war-captives, were sacrificed. But the elite (priests or royalty) also offered their own blood, as this priest is doing here, using a maguey cactus spine to draw blood from his hands.
0 187 159 77 The mountain civilization of Teotihuacan operated a far-flung trade network giving it access to the products of other regions such as the Gulf sea coast. Here a fisherman collects in a net the shells of sea creatures, which were highly prized. Sea and river fish and shellfish also made a valuable contribution to the diet.
160 190 101 71 Almost no animals suitable for domestication inhabited Mesoamerica and so hunting remained of great importance to provide meat. Deer, rabbits, rodents and many kinds of bird were hunted using nets, traps and blow pipes, like the one being used here.
52 265 131 105 Many religious activities seem to have been intended to ensure agricultural fertility. Here a priest conducts a rite that involves scattering seeds.
204 261 91 108 Priests dressed as birds perform a religious ceremony before one of the temple pyramids of Teotihuacan.
