Taking the Measure of Mesoamerica

For hundreds of years early in the first millennium a.d., Teotihuacan controlled the most powerful empire in central Mexico. At its height, the city covered some eight square miles and was home to upwards of 150,000 people. Teotihuacan’s craftspeople were renowned for churning out tools, figurines, and other objects made from the glossy volcanic stone obsidian, which were exported as far off as the Maya cities of Tikal in Guatemala and Copán in Honduras.

Daniel Weiss is executive editor at ARCHAEOLOGY.