Teotihuacan Research Laboratory

The School of Human Evolution and Social Change, through the research of George Cowgill and Saburo Sugiyama, has become the leading North American institution for Teotihuacan studies. Cowgill, whose archaeological research at Teotihuacan spans nearly five decades, continues to oversee Arizona State University's research center at this UNESCO World Heritage site, located 25 miles northeast of Mexico City.

Cowgill's innovative studies of the spatial organization of Teotihuacan from the map and database created by the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (in which he participated in the 1960s) provided the first knowledge of the city's growth and decline over six centuries. His comparative analyses of ancient states, cities and empires, including trends in demography, population growth and collapse have relevance for studies of the modern world. In recent decades ASU research teams have unearthed evidence of human and animal sacrifice, ancient treasures in great pyramids and the modest dwellings of commoners.

ASU faculty, students and staff collaborate on projects with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History. The center plays host to research teams from universities including Stanford University, Dartmouth College and Penn State to excavate and explore this ancient city, which at its zenith around AD 500 was the sixth largest city in the world.　

Our Teotihuacan web site is under construction, but you may be interested in visiting our archival site, which includes many interesting videos.

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