- What was the diet of the Teotihuacanos based on?
- Hunting, plant gathering, fishing, and farming
- A shocking change
- Food from commercial exchanges
- Class stratification and feeding
- References
The diet of the Teotihuacanos forms an important part of the culture of the first largest civilization in America and one of the largest in the ancient world.
Its importance lies in the great influence of this in the history of the civilizations of Central America and North America that followed.
The reference of its existence corresponds to the archaeological data that the Teotihuacan reflected in various expressions such as murals, ceramic pieces, stone sculptures, tombs found, etc.
Unlike other later civilizations and that did leave evidence of their existence and customs supported by written sources, in the case of Teotihuacán this did not happen.
What was the diet of the Teotihuacanos based on?
Just as civilization evolved over the years, their customs, especially their way of eating, evolved in the same way.
The biodiversity so rich in its territory (deserts, tropical forest, lake areas and coastlines rich in marine products) allowed them to take advantage of all the resources at their disposal.
Hunting, plant gathering, fishing, and farming
The Teotihuacanos had a diet composed of mostly plants and animals, from there they obtained their sources of protein and vitamins.
They fully developed their ingenuity to make tools, traps and strategies for hunting animals such as rabbits, white-tailed deer, deer, turkeys, birds, snakes, and wild rodents.
Gradually their hunting techniques were improving, they learned about the movement of herds of animals according to the stationary change and with it to organize themselves to obtain better results.
In a subsidiary way to hunting, the Teotihuacanos gathered wild plants such as juniper berries, purslane, herbs and nopales.
From observing the growth of plants, this particular nascent civilization learned to relate the rainy season with the growth of these and thus to determine what was the best time of year to collect.
In addition, they raised animals for their consumption such as turkeys and dogs, especially the xoloitzcuintle (fattened dog) whose meat was considered a delicious delicacy.
A shocking change
When the Teotihuacans discovered agriculture, they experienced great and important changes that not only impacted on their diet, but also on the development of their commercial relations with other civilizations.
Agriculture became the activity that predominantly led the economy of the Teotihuacanos. From there they got most of their food.
Beans, amaranths, tomatoes, squash, corn, huauzontle, epazote, avocados, ayocotes, huizache, biznaga, tejocote, capulines, chili peppers, nopal and its fruit (the tuna) were produced abundantly on the occasion of the irrigation canals that they built.
With this they achieved large crops, enough to feed more than 85,000 thousand people.
Food from commercial exchanges
The Teotihuacanos obtained cacao, toloche, pinole, quelites, magueyes, wild mushrooms, axolotls, pulque, charales, huitlacoche, maguey worms and armadillo meat from the trade.
Class stratification and feeding
Because it is a society strongly stratified into two classes (the people, the producer or worker group and the nobles or the ruling group), the most elaborate dishes were for the highest social class.
In general, the preparations of chazumba cinnamon bread, pumpkin flower soup, chileajo, fiesta mole, tetelas, bean tamales, tolonche, black mole and corn prepared in atoles, tortillas, tamales and pinole stand out.
This is how Teotihuacán society created a varied diet rich in nutrients for its inhabitants.
References
Teotihuacán: the end of an era. (2008). México, DF, Select Country: FCAS- Fundación Cultural Armella Spitalier. Retrieved from ebrary.com
Matos, ME (2016). Teotihuacan. México, DF, MEXICO: FCE - Fondo de Cultura Económica. Retrieved from ebrary.com
Carreón, E. (2006). Archaeological Researches at Teotihuacan, Mexico. México, DF, MX: Anales Network of the Aesthetic Research Institute. Retrieved from ebrary.com
The diet of the Teotihuacanos conversion21.com
Teotihuacán wikipedia.com