STATE AND SOCIETY AT TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO

Between 100 BCE and 200 CE, the city of Teotihuacan grew rapidly, most of the Basin of Mexico population was relocated in the city, immense civic-religious structures were built, and symbolic and material evide nce shows the early importance of war. Rulers were probably able and p owerful. Subsequently the city did not grow, and government may have b ecome more collective, with significant constraints on rulers' powers. A state religion centered on war and fertility deities presumably ser ved elite interests. but civic consciousness may also have been encour aged. A female goddess was important but probably not as pervasive as has been suggested. Political control probably did not extend beyond c entral Mexico, except perhaps for some outposts, and the scale and sig nificance of commerce are unclear. Teotihuacan's prestige, however, sp read widely in Mesoamerica, manifested especially in symbols of sacred war, used for their own ends by local elites.