Under an Easter ritual, an ancient pyramid

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Under an Easter ritual, an ancient pyramid

 

By Monica Campbell, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor Fri

Apr 14, 4:00 AM ET

 

MEXICO CITY - Taking small steps, archaeologist Jesús Sánchez points

out hand-carved rocks jutting out from a hill overlooking Mexico

City's crowded, working-class neighborhood of Iztapalapa. "Look at

this one, and then this one," he says, singling out volcanic rock from

angular stone. "Do you see how the stones form a line? That's one of

the pyramid's three levels."

 

What Mr. Sánchez is tracing is a newly discovered, 1,500-year-old

pyramid built by the Teotihuacán culture, which also constructed the

famous pyramids about an hour's drive northeast of the city. The base

is the size of Teotihuacán's huge Pyramid of the Moon, about 500-feet

wide, and the whole structure is about 60-feet tall.

 

The discovery has archeology circles abuzz. "It's a fantastic find,"

says archeologist and Teotihuacán expert George Cowgill of Arizona

State University in Tempe. "It's no exaggeration - not hype at all -

to say that this rewrites our picture of the whole Teotihuacán era."

 

One catch: The major archeological find may never see daylight.

 

Every year, the hill covering the pyramid attracts more than a million

pilgrims on Good Friday to watch a theatric re-enactment of the

crucifixion of Christ.

 

The pyramid's discovery has excited residents, but also raised a

dilemma over how to accommodate two of Mexico's most important

cultural traditions without trampling on either of them, nor on the

poor squatters and small businessmen who live and work around the site.

 

Pre-Hispanic researchers have faced similar struggles in Mexico, when

their projects clash with sites of Catholic importance. Notably,

archeologists have yet to fully excavate the Aztec's holiest temple

because Mexico City's colonial-era cathedral sits on top of it. Yet

they did convince the government to clear away several buildings to

allow for digging. It's unclear how much pull archeologists will have

with their latest claim.

 

"In no way do we think our find should be valued more than the Holy

Week traditions," says Myriam Advincula, one of the site's lead

archeologists. "But we also feel an urgency to restore and protect the

area."

 

The bloody, lifelike Good Friday tradition, which involves an actor

portraying Christ hanged from a hilltop cross, dates back to the 1830s

and began when locals expressed gratitude for the end to the plague.

It is one of Latin America's best-known Holy Week rituals. For years,

Catholics attending the event were unaware that the newer tradition

took place over a Teotihuacán ritual site.

 

Those in charge of the Passion of Christ production greet the pyramid

as cultural patrimony that unites Mexico's past and present.

 

"We must now agree on whether we should put limits on a Catholic

ritual," says Roberto Guillén, head of the re-enactment event. "I'm

not sure how we'll work that out."

 

Catholic devotees who flock to the hill for the re-enactment take a

toll on the pyramid's site, archeologists worry. Further, event

organizers construct platforms on the hillside to accommodate TV crews

and stadium-style audio systems.

 

For now, archeologists are erecting a periphery fence. After Easter,

they'll launch a public education campaign in the nearby

neighborhoods, focusing on the pyramid and the area's pre-Columbian roots.

 

Next, archeologists will lobby the community for more far-reaching and

permanent conservation measures, perhaps keeping next year's Good

Friday attendees from ascending the hill. However, this would keep

pilgrims from fully experiencing the visceral struggle of the actor

who must haul his 40-pound cross up the hill.

 

In exchange for the restrictions, the scientists would develop a

tourism project on the hill that could provide a more stable,

year-round income for local residents. The site would probably draw

mostly Mexicans and some intrepid foreigners willing to brave this

rough part of town.

 

"Now that we know this pyramid exists, we can't have the same attitude

toward this space as before," says Sánchez, who works at Mexico's

National Institute of Anthropology and History. "This site can provide

new pieces to a puzzling part of Mexico's history. It must be

recognized that something else stood here before."

 

Until now, past research concluded that no major Teotihuacán

settlements existed beyond the ancient city that houses the Pyramid of

the Sun and Moon. Also, the newly discovered pyramid, abandoned when

the Teotihuacán culture fell around 800 A.D., was apparently

refortified by the legendary Toltec civilization, predecessors of the

Aztecs. The dig may offer critical clues to a 2,000-year-old

Teotihuacán culture that left little trace of its origin, language, or

rulers.

 

The discovery's grandeur intrigues local residents. But tension may

rise among some residents if archeologists push for the area's

conservation. Squatter shacks, along with more established houses,

sprawl over the pyramid site.

 

Rumors of relocating homes are circulating.

 

"It's incredible to think that something so old and huge is beneath my

living room floor," says Alberto Anaya, a mechanic who lives only

yards from the pyramid site. "I still don't believe it. But does that

mean I have to give up my home?"

 

Meantime, Mr. Anaya depends on the Easter Week rituals for extra cash.

He and his neighbor, Francisco Javier Balois, sell ice to visitors.

Sales were already brisk as buses transported tourists wanting a look

at the preritual preparations. "It'll be nonstop business," says Mr.

Balois.

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