# Why was Teotihuacan abandoned?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-teotihuacan-abandoned/172349>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 1, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-teotihuacan-abandoned/172349 "2003-05-01T11:58:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-teotihuacan-abandoned/172349/1 "2003-05-01T11:58:50Z")

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I’m wondering if there are any scientific theories/hypothesis’s as to why Teotihuacan was abandoned.

Teotihuacan, AFAIK, was that ancient Aztec pyramid.

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-teotihuacan-abandoned/172349/2 "2003-05-01T12:11:07Z")

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[From this site:](http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/prehistory/latinamerica/meso/cultures/teotihuacan.html)

> [@](#):
>
> The city of Teotihuacán declined from one of the largest metropolitan cities in Mexico in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. to virtual abandonment in the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. Although archeologists can document the actual abandonment of the city, there is little evidence pointing to why it may have been abandoned. An increase in the amount of militarism in the art and artifacts of that period suggests an increase in warfare which could be a possible explanation. After 750 A.D. there is evidence of ritual-like burning of the monuments and temples of the city which has been associated with loss of power and decline.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-teotihuacan-abandoned/172349/3 "2003-05-01T12:11:12Z")

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Teotihuacan is apparently an entire site:

[http://archaeology.la.asu.edu/teo/](http://archaeology.la.asu.edu/teo/)

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**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-teotihuacan-abandoned/172349/4 "2003-05-01T12:14:04Z")

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I think the short answer is that no-one knows.  
I think it was abandoned around 750A.D, but with little reasons behind the exodus.

BTW, it is not confirmed as being built Aztec, the pyramids pre-date the Aztecs by several thouand years, IIRC.

[Here’s me at the Pyramid of the Sun.](http://uk.geocities.com/aro_hill/mexico.html)

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-teotihuacan-abandoned/172349/5 "2003-05-01T14:51:33Z")

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I’ll verify that it’s an entire site, and very beautiful, and you can actually touch stuff and climb the pyramids, and they don’t worry that you’re destroying anything. Bring plenty of water, though.