Scientists propose that glyphs found in Teotihuacán are not simple decorations, but could constitute part of an authentic writing system.
Mexico City, November 1 (DW).- In the heart of Mexico one of the cities most enigmatic of the ancient world. Teotihuacanwith its imposing pyramids and spacious avenueshas baffled the archaeologists for decades with an essential question: who really were its inhabitants? And, furthermore, an even more elusive question: what language Did those who built this metropolis speak?
A new study published in Current Anthropology by researchers Magnus Pharao Hansen and Christophe Helmke, from the University of Copenhagen, in Denmark, proposes a new hypothesis that could bring us closer to an answer.
After years of debate around the glyphs found on the murals and ceramics of the ancient city, scientists propose that these signs are not simple decorations, but could constitute part of an authentic writing system. And, according to his hypothesis, this system would have recorded an early form of Uto-Aztec, the linguistic family that centuries later would give rise to Nahuatl, Cora and Huichol, the languages that the Aztecs would speak a thousand years later.
If this interpretation is correct, it would imply a direct connection between Teotihuacán and the Aztecs, centuries earlier than previously believed. “We found some coincidences, that’s the brilliant thing,” Helmke told the New York Times.
The challenge of deciphering the writing of Teotihuacán
The process of deciphering the Teotihuacán signs has been particularly challenging. As a press release from the University of Copenhagen explains, the system uses logograms that sometimes represent direct meanings – the image of a coyote simply means “coyote” – and other times function as phonetic hieroglyphs, where the sounds of the objects represented must be combined to form more complex words.
“No one before us had used a language that fit the time period to decipher this written language,” Pharao Hansen said.
This innovative method demonstrates that certain logograms have a phonetic value that can be used in contexts other than their primary meaning, creating a methodological basis for future analysis.
To achieve this advance, researchers had to reconstruct a much older version of Nahuatl. As Helmke points out: “It would be a bit like trying to decipher the runes on famous Danish runestones, such as the Jelling stone, using modern Danish. That would be anachronistic.”
This study not only suggests the possible existence of a hitherto indecipherable writing system, but also questions the established chronology of the presence of Nahuatl-speaking populations in central Mexico.
Until now, it was believed that the Aztecs had migrated to this region after the fall of Teotihuacán. However, this possible linguistic connection could indicate that Nahuatl-speaking populations settled in the region earlier than previously thought, and could even be direct descendants of the inhabitants of Teotihuacán.
Teotihuacán: a multicultural metropolis of Mesoamerica
The challenge for researchers continues to be the scarcity of available texts. “In Teotihuacán you can still find ceramics with texts, and we know that more murals will appear. It would be great to be able to find the same signs used in the same way in many more contexts,” said Pharao Hansen.
The complexity of deciphering this system also lies in the multicultural nature of the ancient metropolis.
As several experts outside the study point out, Teotihuacán – founded around 100 BC and prosperous for more than six centuries, with a population that could reach 125 thousand inhabitants in its heyday – was a cosmopolitan city where people from different Mesoamerican regions lived together, each with their own linguistic traditions.
According to researchers, Teotihuacán could be compared to Rome, since it was an important cultural center in ancient Mesoamerica.
In that sense, Helmke points out that a trained eye can easily distinguish the culture of Teotihuacán from other contemporary ones. For example, the ruins show that some parts of the city were inhabited by the Mayans, a civilization much better known today.
Skepticism and the future of archaeological research
Although the research has already sparked the interest of international experts, it has also generated skepticism.
For example, Lyle Campbell, a linguist at the University of Hawaii, pointed out New York Times that the interpretations are still far from being conclusive. In his opinion, the writing of Teotihuacán “raises important problems”, among them the difficulty in interpreting the signs, the infrequency with which they appear and the limited number of examples available.
In fact, only about 300 texts from the city are known, a minuscule number when compared to the thousands of records of Aztec or Mayan writing that have allowed great advances in their study.
In that sense, Teotihuacán remains an archaeological enigma. Despite its relevance and monumentality, its writing has never been fully deciphered, and the linguistic identity of its inhabitants remains unresolved.
As the University of Copenhagen points out, it is as if we had found the ruins of the Roman Empire without knowing anything about who lived there. That is, to a large extent, the current situation.
Still, Danish researchers remain enthusiastic. “If we are right, it is not only notable that we have deciphered a writing system. It could have implications for our entire understanding of Mesoamerican cultures,” Helmke said.
With less than five percent of the site excavated – as Helmke recalls, after more than a century of exploration – the mystery of Teotihuacán is still alive. Each glyph, each mural fragment, can be one more piece in the puzzle that perhaps, one day, will reveal to us who the Teotihuacans really were.
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