Editing Pyramid of the Moon (section)

==Background and history== 
Between 150&nbsp;BC and 500&nbsp;AD, a [[Mesoamerica]]n culture built a flourishing metropolis on a plateau about {{convert|22|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.{{clarify|reason=What does the 22 square km (8.5 sq mi) in area refer to?|date=May 2016}} The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is a subject of debate, therefore "Teotihuacan" is the name used to refer to both the civilization and the capital city of these people.<ref name=":0">Miller, Mary Ellen. 2012. ''Art of Mesoamerica: From Olmec to Aztec''. London, UK: Thames & Hudson Australia Proprietary Limited.</ref> [[Teotihuacan]] was a highly influential civilization in Mesoamerica. The city was home to a religious complex which was the religious center of all of Mesoamerica. The people who lived there constructed a city conducive to religious life and worship by incorporating cosmology into every aspect of the urban plan.

During the initial phase of Teotihuacan, called Tzacualli (0–150&nbsp;AD), ingenious building systems were developed to erect the monumental bases of the Pyramids of the Moon and the Sun. The Teotihuacan metropolis has a planified urbanization with main axis, and a huge palace surrounded by 15 monumental pyramids. It was said by the Aztecs to have been surmounted by a huge stone figure related to the moon. This figure was uncovered (weighing 22 [[metric tons]] and was somehow lifted to the top of the pyramid) and it represents the Great Goddess as a water deity.<ref>Walker, Charles, 1980 ''Wonders of the Ancient World,'' pp.&nbsp;150–3</ref> 

Beginning in 1998, [[archaeologist]]s excavated beneath the Pyramid of the Moon. [[Tunnel]]s dug into the structure have revealed that the pyramid underwent at least six renovations; each new addition was larger and covered the previous structure.

As the archaeologists burrowed through the layers of the pyramid, they discovered [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] that provide the beginning of a timeline to the history of Teotihuacan. In 1999, a team led by Saburo Sugiyama, associate professor at [[Aichi Prefectural University]] in [[Japan]] and adjunct faculty at [[Arizona State University]],<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/09/990921071513.htm|publisher=Arizona State University, College Of Liberal Arts & Sciences|date=September 21, 1999|title=Discoveries At Teotihuacan's Pyramid Of The Moon Help Unlock Mysteries Of Western Hemisphere's First Major Metropolis|journal=ScienceDaily}}</ref> and Ruben Cabrera of Mexico's [[National Institute of Anthropology and History]], found a [[tomb]] apparently made to dedicate the fifth phase of construction. It contains four human skeletons, animal bones, [[jewelry]], [[obsidian]] blades, and a wide variety of other offerings. Archeologists estimated that the burial occurred between 100 and 200&nbsp;AD.

Another tomb dedicated to The Great Goddess was discovered in 1998. It is dated to the fourth stage of construction. It contained a single human male sacrificial victim as well as a [[wolf]], [[jaguar]], [[Cougar|puma]], serpent, bird skeletons, and more than 400 other relics which include large [[Greenstone (archaeology)|greenstone]] and [[obsidian]] figurines, ceremonial knives, and spear points.