NARRATOR: Located just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City,
the Teotihuacan complex encompasses
nearly eight square miles and is dated to the first century AD.
It is the oldest and most sophisticated
city of Mesoamerica, an area that
extends from northern Mexico down through Central America.
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The civilization predated the Maya by at least 100 years.
At its peak, it was said to have supported
nearly 100,000 residents.
It was also the largest city in the entire Western hemisphere
prior to the 15th century, and served
as the major commerce and religious center
for the region.
EXPERT 1: The significance of Teotihuacan
cannot be overstated.
It is the Rome of Mesoamerica.
The things that Teotihuacan did set the pattern for
all other city-states after it.
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NARRATOR: The central features of the complex
are two large pyramids known as the Pyramid of the Sun
and the Pyramid of the Moon, as well
as a temple dedicated to Quetzalcoatl,
the feathered serpent.
These structures stand alongside a thoroughfare referred
to as the Avenue of the Dead.
Over 200 smaller buildings, platforms, and pyramids are
found adjacent to the avenue.
And there are thousands of living quarters
just outside the complex.
But as incredible as Teotihuacan is,
no one knows exactly who built this metropolis
or what happened to its occupants.
EXPERT 1: Teotihuacan, despite its size,
has no hieroglyphs whatsoever.
There are other cultures in Mesoamerica that
were using writing systems.
There's nothing like that at Teotihuacan.
So we don't really have a clear history of what happened
at Teotihuacan, and we can't really
find evidence of their rulers.
WILL HART: We have such a sophisticated site
that embodies engineering principles, craftsmanship, art.
Where did it originate?
Where are the smaller versions of this?
Well, we don't find any.
So we don't have a progression, an evolution,
to show where this came from.
So we have to ask, where did it come from?
DAVID WILCOCK: We've become conditioned
to look at these awesome works of stone architecture
and think, oh, primitive people did
that, in these primitive methods and primitive technology.
But we have to rethink the fundamental assumptions
and come to a greater and greater level of understanding
that the technology required to build these artifacts, in fact,
is greater than anything that they possessed.
NARRATOR: But based on the local lore of the region,
ancient astronaut theorists suggest
that the original builders of the site
may not have been human at all.
JONATHAN YOUNG: All of the people in this area
felt this city was a sacred site connected to a divine realm.
The population along the coast were the Totonac.
They believe that the place was founded by a dozen
sky gods, the lords of thunder.
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Other nearby Mesoamerican cultures
had their own theories.
One associated the site with the feathered serpent
god, Quetzalcoatl, who was said to have come from Venus.
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It was the Aztecs who gave the place its name,
Teotihuacan, city of the gods.
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EXPERT 2: The name speaks for itself.
So one has to ask the question, what gods?
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Who were they?
Were they just a figment of our ancestors' imagination,
or did they see someone?
Did somebody visit them to essentially
jump-start civilization?