Lecture Access

This lecture will be available to view until 4 January 2027

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OVERVIEW

Watch on Demand | Online Lecture


Forty-five kilometres north of modern Mexico City lie the ruins of one of the ancient world's most remarkable cities. 

When the Aztecs first encountered Teotihuacan, it had already been abandoned for centuries. Awed by its scale, they concluded it could only have been built by the gods, and named its monumental central avenue the Avenue of the Dead.

Founded around two thousand years ago, Teotihuacan was a planned city laid out on a deliberate grid, an achievement that still draws students of urban design today. Its great pyramids of the Sun and the Moon rose above a thriving metropolis of workshops, markets, and walled residential compounds, sustained by trade that reached as far as the Caribbean and the Maya lands of Guatemala.

Yet for all its grandeur, Teotihuacan guards its secrets. Its people left no written script, the names of its rulers are lost, and the cause of its dramatic collapse remains debated.

This lecture uncovers the artistry, the rituals, and the enduring puzzles of the City of the Gods.

LECTURER

Biography

Dr Chris Carter is a historical archaeologist with over 25 years’ experience leading tours both nationally and overseas. He has a BA (Hons), MA and PhD from the Australian National University. His PhD research was based on excavations he carried out at coastal sites in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. As a teacher, Chris has always declared that archaeology cannot be learned in the classroom. Such statements resulted in him taking a group to South America in 1995. He has continued to lead several tours a year ever since. The areas visited have expanded to other regions that reflect the subjects he teaches.

Dr Christopher Carter

Historical Archaeologist