In the Aztec language, Nahuatl, Teotihuacán is translated as “the place where gods were born.” In this article we hypothesize:

1) Teotihuacán was originally aligned to a former North Pole that was located near Hudson Bay

2) The Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Sun, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, and the Palace of the Jaguars are associated with the succession of Aztec sun gods Chalchiuhtlicue, Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl, and Tezcatlipoca, respectively.

3) Tezcatlipoca, who was the First Sun in the Aztec creation myth of the Five Suns, corresponds to the time when the North Pole was in the Bering Sea, Quetzalcoatl was the Second Sun that corresponds to the time when the North Pole was in the Norway Sea, Tlaloc was the Third Sun that corresponds to the time when the North Pole was in Greenland, and Chalchiuhtlicue was the Fourth Sun that corresponds to the time when the North Pole was in Hudson Bay

4) The distances between The Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Sun, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, and the Palace of the Jaguars as measured along the Avenue of the Dead correspond to intervals between pole shifts

5)  Based on new archaeoastronomy evidence, the Pyramid of the Moon might have been the first structure built at Teotihuacán approximately 35,000 years ago

6) The other structures were probably added later just before the latest pole shift from Hudson Bay to the current North Pole, around 18,000 years ago.

The Alignment of Teotihuacán

Various explanations have been proposed for why the city of Teotihuacán including the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous pyramids and temples are rotated 15-16° clockwise from the cardinal directions. Teotihuacán like other Mesoamerican sites is thought to have been aligned to be in harmony with the surrounding landscape. It has been suggested that Teotihuacán was originally aligned to face the direction of a nearby mountain peak, Cerro Gordo approximately 18 km to the east-southeast. Sprajc [1]  argues that this alignment also corresponds to the directions of sunrises and sunsets on two different sets of dates 260 days apart, which is the basis of Mesoamerican ritual calendars. Teotihuacán is one of the best-known examples of the group of orientations widely distributed in Mesoamerica ranging from about 15° to 18° clockwise from the cardinal directions that have become known as the 17° family of orientations [2]. 

In Before Atlantis we propose a different explanation to account for the variation in the alignment of these sites as a function of their location – that when the sites were first established the North Pole was in a different location, approximately 3400 km south of its current location in Hudson Bay. Our hypothesis is that these sites were originally aligned to face the former North Pole when they were built and are now misaligned due to a pole shift that occurred 12,000 to 18,000 years ago. This explanation not only accounts for the alignment of structures in Teotihuacán and other Mesoamerica sites but also that of structures in other parts of the world (Figure 1).

Pyramids of the Gods

According to the Aztec legend of the Five Suns, the past is divided into a succession of ages or “Suns” that are ruled by deities that create, sustain, and eventually destroy the world during the age in which they rule. Not surprising, the current age known as the Fifth Sun is ruled by Huitzilopochtli, a violent deity of war and human sacrifice.

At Teotihuacán, the Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Sun, and the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl have been associated with three of the four previous Aztec gods Chalchiuhtlicue, Tlaloc, and Quetzalcoatl, respectively.

When Teotihuacán was first excavated by Leopoldo Batres in the late 1800s one of the artifacts found was a 20-ton statue buried in the Pyramid of the Moon representing Chalchiuitlicue, the goddess of the Fourth Sun. Artifacts later found inside the Pyramid of the Sun suggest that it was dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of the Third Sun. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent, which is named for the numerous feathered serpents heads carved into the facade and stairwell of the temple, was excavated from under the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, the god of the Second Sun. Although there is no indication that any of the other structures were associated with Tezcatlipoca, the god of the First Sun, it is conjectured that The Palace of the Jaguars’ might have served that purpose, as jaguars are sometimes associated with Tezcatlipoca.

Avenue of the Dead

It has been suggested that the arrangement of the pyramids of the Sun, Moon, and Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacán are the Aztec equivalent of the three Egyptian pyramids that match the three stars in the belt of the constellation Orion. 

We propose another explanation based on Hapgood’s theory of pole shifts. In Before Atlantis we associate the Fourth Sun with the period of time when the North Pole was in Hudson Bay, the Third Sun with the period of time when the North Pole was in Greenland, the Second Sun with the period of time when the North Pole was in the Norway Sea, and the First Sun with the period of time when the North Pole was in the Bering Sea. The Pyramid of the Moon, which is associated with the Fourth Sun, is located at the northern end of the Avenue of the Dead. If these structures are associated with gods who ruled over a succession of past ages perhaps the arrangement of these structures might be related in some way to the Five Suns. 

According to Arizona State University archaeologist Saburo Sugiyama, who excavated the Temple of the Moon in 1999 “The pyramid of the Moon started out as a rather small temple beneath what is now the five-tiered platform in front of the pyramid. After two additional construction episodes, the builders embarked on the construction of the pyramid itself.” [3]

Using the Avenue of the Dead as a yardstick let the position of the small temple in front the Pyramid of the Moon, which is dedicated to Chalchiuitlicue (C) be at one end of the yardstick. The position of the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl (Q) along the avenue is 1900 meters from C. The position of the Palace of the Jaguars, which we conjecture was dedicated to Tezcatlipoca (T) is 1720 meters from Q. If one were to talk from C to Q to T the total distance would be 1900 + 1720 = 3620 meters. 

According to our adjusted pole shift timeline, the North Pole was in Hudson Bay, which corresponds to C, 12,000 to 18,000 years ago, the Norway Sea, which corresponds to Q, 75,000 years ago, and the Bering Sea, which corresponds to T, 125,000 years ago. Plotting these times along with their corresponding distances along the Avenue of the Dead reveals a linear relation. The equation of this line is 

Y = 33.33 x D + 15,000 years

where Y is the year before present and D is the total distance from C. Previously we have not been able to determine how long the pole was in the Norway Sea or in Greenland, but the total time was assumed to be the period of the Sangamon Interglacial of 50,000 years. Using the location of the Pyramid of the Sun, which corresponds to Tlaloc and the time of the Third Sun, along the Avenue of the Dead we estimate the Norway Sea to Greenland pole shift occurred about 48,000 years ago during the Wisconsin Glaciation (which, ironically was Hapgood’s original estimate.)

Geographic “Hall of Records”

If this interpretation is correct then the distances between these structures at Teotihuacán tell us the periods of the four previous Suns. The alignment of the site to the Hudson Bay pole tells us when this layout was established but does not tell us exactly when these structures were actually built. 

What is interesting is that neither the platform in front of nor the Pyramid of the Moon itself appears to reference the moon in any obvious way today. The Pyramid of the Moon has a more rectangular shape than the other pyramids in Teotihuacán. Although it is difficult to accurately estimate its aspect ratio due to various irregularities between platforms, the angular span between the summer and winter solstice sunrise/sunset directions when the North Pole was in Hudson Bay is not inconsistent with the diagonals of the structure. Over the 41,000-year obliquity cycle, the solstice angles change by several degrees. Approximately 35,000 years ago when the Temple of the Moon was aligned to north, its diagonals would have been aligned to the solstices. Thus we hypothesize that the Pyramid of the Moon might have been the first structure built at Teotihuacán around that time.

At this point, one has to wonder why the Aztecs referred to this pyramid as the Pyramid of the Moon. Directly below the five-tiered platform south of the pyramid is a plaza surrounded by nine pyramidal platforms and the Palace of the Jaguars. Aligned to the Hudson Bay pole the layout of these structures around the plaza become evident. The summer solstice sun would have risen and set in between the two pairs of pyramids to the northeast and northwest, respectively. The angular separation between the two pyramids to the northeast and the two pyramids to the northwest bracket the range of maximum and minimum lunar moonrises and moonsets.

Based their arrangement along the Avenue of the Dead, it is likely the construction of the Pyramid of the Sun, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, and Palace of the Jaguars began just before the last pole shift from Hudson Bay.

Concerning the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Marco Vigato states:

“The ruins that survive today make it abundantly clear, however, that in the long sequence of construction of the site, the earliest layers almost invariably show the greatest complexity and sophistication. It is therefore even more surprising to find evidence among the earliest layers of construction of an entirely different style of architecture employing enormous, finely cut and polished blocks of stone, which could very well be called megalithic.” [4]

He goes on to say:

“The unfinished state of the monolith of Coatlinchan and of the countless megalithic stone blocks that lie scattered around the site of Teotihuacán are suggestive of the sudden arrival and departure of a very technically advanced elite: Over the following centuries, construction resumed and continued at Teotihuacán, although in much cruder form, recycling many of the megalithic stones and structures left behind by the original builders.”

Based on Vigato’s findings it is possible that the Temple of the Feathered Serpent was never completed. If the Hudson Bay pole shift were sudden the effect would have been catastrophic in certain parts of the world especially northern Mexico. Teotihuacán would have suffered extensive damage but like other sites in the world discussed in Before Atlantis, it probably would have been rebuilt in a manner consistent with the original site plan.

The Goddess of Water

The location of Pyramid of the Moon at the top of the Avenue of the Dead suggests Teotihuacán was itself dedicated to Chalchiuitlicue the goddess of water. Water was the agent of the destruction of the world both in Plato’s tale of Atlantis and the Aztec’s legend of the Five Suns. It is also thought to have been abundant at one time in Teotihuacán.

When the North Pole was in Hudson Bay Teotihuacán was 3500 km north of its present location. Its climate was temperate, perhaps not unlike that of the northern United States. With ample rainfall aquifers that have long since dried up might have supplied Teotihuacán with great quantities of water.

In excavating the square surrounding Teotihuacán’s Pyramid of the Moon, Verónica Ortega found canals and pool-like cavities located beneath the square, alongside statues of water gods, from which she has concluded that the entire city was built as a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of water. “If there was a city in the ancient world where water was worshipped, it was Teotihuacan.” [5]. According to Ortega, a mural found inside the Palace of the Jaguars depicts streams of water flowing from a pyramid-like structure.

An extensive network of tunnels and caves under Teotihuacan are thought to have carried water throughout the city and are currently an active area of investigation.

References

[1] Ivan Šprajc, “Astronomical Alignments at Teotihuacan, Mexico,”  Latin American Antiquity, December 2000, https://doi.org/10.2307/972004.

[2] Anthony Aveni, Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico (Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1980).

[3] Angela M.H. Schuster, “New Tomb at Teotihuacan,” Archaeology Archive, 1998.

[4] Marco Vigato, “The Rome of America: What Lies Under Teotihuacan? – The Real City of the God,” Ancient Origins, Feb. 2017.

[5] https://www.history.com/news/scholar-claims-worship-of-water-explains-mexicos-ancient-city