Abstract
Techinantitla building complex, in the Amanalco neighborhood of the ancient city of Teotihuacan, is famous for the iconography and quality of the mural paintings found in this site. A significant part of this heritage has been lost due to looting. In recent years, an interdisciplinary research project was developed to study the limited patrimony that was left. As part of this study, we first employed geophysical techniques to reconstruct the architectural pattern of the compound’s remaining walls, where other paintings may still be found. Then, we applied a non-invasive methodology to characterize a large set of fragments recovered in the 1980s and to gain information on their pigments and manufacturing techniques. This methodology included False Color Infrared Imaging, X-ray Fluorescence and Fiber-Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy, and led to the identification of hematite, calcite, malachite, azurite and an unidentified blue pigment. The results were compared with a previous study performed on a set of Techinantitla mural paintings looted in the 1960s. A broader comparison with contemporary mural paintings from other Teotihuacan complexes shows good agreement in the materials used. These results may suggest a standardization in the making of Teotihuacan mural painting during the Xolapan period (350 to 550 AD).
Highlights
Mural paintings were an important part of the Mesoamerican landscape, and its remains include outstanding and sophisticated artworks
The strategy included the magnetic gradient for detecting dipole alignments, but due to the presence of stones dispersed on the surface, it was important to verify the presence of some walls with electric resistivity
Geophysical anomalies interpreted as walls were compared with the topographic map and some descriptions of the intervention performed by Millon in 1984
Summary
Mural paintings were an important part of the Mesoamerican landscape, and its remains include outstanding and sophisticated artworks. The city was organized in neighborhoods around the civic and ceremonial center, with several of these complexes standing out for their mural paintings: Tetitla, Tepantitla, Quetzalpapalotl, Zacuala and Techinaltitla [3,5]. These mural paintings underwent a technical and material evolution, as proposed and described by Magaloni [6,7,8]. Techinantitla was located in the neighborhood of Amanalco (Figure 1), northeast of Teotihuacan’s civic and ceremonial center This neighborhood is well known for its mural paintings of high plastic and aesthetic quality.
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