Tepantitla
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Period

Classic (350–650 CE)

Type

Elite residential compound with large-format mural paintings

Location

Northeast of the Pyramid of the Sun

Nahuatl Name

Tepantitla ("Place of Tall Walls")

Murals

"Tlalocan"; "Red Tlalocs"; "The Sowing Priests"

Function

High-ranking residence; space for cosmological and ritual representation

Tepantitla is a high-ranking residential compound located northeast of the Pyramid of the Sun. The quality of its finishes, the size of its rooms, and the density of its pictorial program indicate that it was home to people of privileged rank or position. The three mural programs preserved in the complex—the great mural in the main room "Tlalocan", the so-called "Red Tlalocs", and the procession of "The Sowing Priests"—gave each room its own meaning. Who exactly were its residents? What role did they play in the city's hierarchy? And why did they choose precisely these subjects for their walls? These are questions that archaeology has yet to answer fully.