(2 of 2)
Flutes & Flames. Other finds are less grisly but more valuable in defining the Teotihuacán culture. Acosta's archaeological task force has gathered more than 500,000 fragments dating from 350 B.C., including sling stones, bells, whistles, and a 1,500-year-old flute that visiting British Symphony Conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent declared had "very fine pitch. Nearest thing to it is a Roman flute."
Less warlike than the Aztecs, and not so advanced in science as the Mayas, Teotihuacán's ruling priest class—usually pictured sitting down—lived in beautifully painted rooms, grew corn, beans and squash. Besides art and architecture, their major contribution to Mesoamerican culture was the development of this continent's first true urban center. But suddenly, at the height of their civilization, the Teotihuacanos disappeared, leaving behind only their huge, empty city and a major archaeological mystery.
Did famine or pestilence befall the city? Was it destroyed by an invading tribe? Acosta doubts it. "A suffering people would wander off," he says. "There is no evidence of a great migration from Teotihuacán." Invaders would have left behind spear-and dartheads of alien workmanship; yet none have been found. But the archaeologists have found evidence of a violent end. In digging through the Butterfly Palace, a twelve-pillared temple decorated with carved stone butterfly-like figures, Acosta found long, ugly char marks, indicating that the temple had been burned.
"It must have been a religious civil war," says Acosta. "Perhaps a new god was being imposed." Though the Teotihuacanos left no written records, he believes that the war culminated in a spectacular fire—fed by the wood in the walls, the great beams in the ceilings, and the thatched roofs—that brought death to the splendid city.