Calgary Heritage Initiative forums

[rudestylee]

The Archaeological Society of Alberta presents:

"The Place Where Divinity Came Into Being- Archaeology at Teotihuacan, Mexico", featuring Dr. Ian Robertson, Stanford University

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010, University of Calgary, Earth Sciences Building, Tom Oliver Lecture Theatre (Room 162), 7:30pm, Free and open to the public!

ABSTRACT: Teotihuacan is one of the most interesting and dramatic of the world’s early cities. Founded in the Basin of Mexico over two millennia ago, Teotihuacan grew rapidly into a regional capital and metropolis and for centuries enjoyed widespread influence in Mesoamerica. After its political power was eclipsed by a massive conflagration, Teotihuacan remained a religious and cultural symbol, its ruins recreated in the Aztec imagination as the origin of the world we live in today—the Fifth Sun. While the ceremonial core of the city has become Mexico’s most important destination for archaeological tourism, the rest of Teotihuacan is disappearing rapidly under an onslaught of urban expansion. Involved for many years in active research at Teotihuacan, Ian Robertson will review key aspects of the history and culture of this ancient city, and discuss the effects of recent archaeological investigations.

BIOGRAPHY: Ian Robertson is from southern Alberta, and did his first two degrees at the University of Calgary’s Archaeology Department. After significant prior research in the High Arctic, the Northwestern Plains, and West Africa, Robertson has worked for the last twenty years in Mesoamerica and in particular at the ancient city of Teotihuacan. His investigations have mostly focused on patterns of social variation within the city’s vast residential districts; he has recently started a project examining ancient irrigation in the semi-rural districts surrounding Teotihuacan. He is a faculty member of the Department of Anthropology and the Archaeology Center at Stanford University.