Archaeology of Teotihuacan
Offerings at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid:
Greenstone Earspools
In total, 139 earspools have been found in Graves 1, 13, 14, and
203. Some whole and fragmented examples were also found in the
looters' tunnel. Twenty-four earspools were previously discovered in
association with burials at the top of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid
(Marquina 1922). More than 8 earspools were also found in caches in
front of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid (Pérez 1939).
All greenstone earspools had a relatively
standardized circular form but differed greatly in size. Individual
graves (Graves 1 and 203) symmetrically aligned with respect to the
East-West axis of the pyramid, contained earspools of the same type.
Two exceptionally large earspools were found in Grave 13 in
association with the one individual who had eluded looters. One
fragment found in the disturbed layer of Grave 12 was also unusually
large. It was larger than those mentioned above. This suggests that
Graves 13 and 12 contained individuals who merited distinction in
terms of their ornament associations. Others found in the disturbed
layers were small in size, similar to those found in the central
grave. In the central grave, 123 earspools were discovered. Several
individuals were apparently wearing a pair of earspools, while the
others were apparently not.
Last Update: 8/20/2001
Saburo Sugiyama: Arizona State University, Dept. of Anthropology,
Tempe, AZ 85287
Oralia Cabrera: Arizona State University, Dept. of Anthropology,
Tempe, AZ 85287
©Copyright 1996 Project Temple of Quetzalcoatl, Instituto
Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico/ ASU
Send comments
All greenstone earspools had a relatively
standardized circular form but differed greatly in size. Individual
graves (Graves 1 and 203) symmetrically aligned with respect to the
East-West axis of the pyramid, contained earspools of the same type.
Two exceptionally large earspools were found in Grave 13 in
association with the one individual who had eluded looters. One
fragment found in the disturbed layer of Grave 12 was also unusually
large. It was larger than those mentioned above. This suggests that
Graves 13 and 12 contained individuals who merited distinction in
terms of their ornament associations. Others found in the disturbed
layers were small in size, similar to those found in the central
grave. In the central grave, 123 earspools were discovered. Several
individuals were apparently wearing a pair of earspools, while the
others were apparently not.