Blog # 4

The video on the pyramids were so intresting. At first I thought I would have to see them in in parts at diffrent times but I watched it all in one sitting. I learned more about the god Quetzalcoatl which I had seen on an everyday basis due to the fact that I would pass by that statue of it downtown quite often. I was also glad to know the reason why Moctezuma would think that Hernan Cortez was Quetzalcoatl. In the film, it states that it was because he was light skinned and matched a discription of him so I got quite confused because I thought Quetzalcoatl was a snake.

The decline of Teotihuacan due to the distruction of its natural resources brings be back to one of Darwin's postulates I learned in Anthropology: The ability for the population to expand is infinite, but the ability for the environment to support the population is finite. Populations can expand infinetly, but yet the earth does not have enough resources and such to be able to maintain these populations. Such happened in Teotihuacan , its residents used up the firewood for preparation of their art supplies. The deforestation lead to droughts and crop failures (Miller). The enviornment had reached its toll, thus not being able to support the population of Teotihuacan.

Blog #3

I enjoyed reading about Monte Alban this week mainly because my family is from Oaxaca. I visted Monte Alban about 10 years ago when I was 10. Of course being so young I really didnt listen to the tour guide because I was running around with my cousins.











This is a picture of my cousins, brother, and I resting on the stairs of one of the monuments. It was quite a long climb!


























(Sorry for the very small pictures, these were taken with a film camera)
I couldnt seem to find Mound J in these pictures. But anyways now that I have more bakground on Monte Alban, I wish I had payed attention as a kid because its very intresting how they may have used a mound for astronomical functions. I wasnt aware that there was 2 phases to Monte Alban and how each consisted of diffrent types of art. I find it quite odd that people were able to reside here since it is said that there was no natural source for water. Hopefully when I go visit my family in Oaxaca, I can go back to Monte Alban and be able to enjoy it more because of my new found knowledge of it!