Source: Photograph by WTL© (2009) on site in Cholula, Puebla, México.
Image: This is a model of the Great Pyramid of Cholula in the museum of the Cholula archeological site.
Comments: As you can see the pyramid and temple were built in four stages. At its peak of expansion--that is, when it was seen by Cortés and his conquistadors before later colonists destroyed it, the pyramid measured 1476 feet square, and it was 217 feet high. With a volume of 4.45 cubic meters it has almost twice the volume of the most massive of the Egyptian pyramids. As mentioned in Cholula (1), the people of this great city-state took over a thousand years to build this tremendous sacred site.
Humanities Questions: In your view, what does it say about a culture that a succession of people in one place, and this one in particular, continued to add to the same religious center for over not only a millennium, but, indeed, have continued to add to it for the past five hundred years? Hint: consider the temple at the top of this model. What are key themes of HUM2461 suggested by this model?