Surname 2
monuments have their origins in the pre-Buddha period when they were used by some cult
worshipers before they were integrated into the mainstream Buddha worship (Irwin). However,
one must also admit that Irwin’s conclusion that the pillar architecture is religious is problematic
because some of them were often found in intersections of major routes. For this reason, it is
possible that they were part of secular practices. Finally, a study of the symbolism of the pillars
could help understand their importance to the history of India.
On the other hand, Taube's studies on the Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan offer a
conclusion that the serpent head at the temple is a historic symbol of the temple having served as
the office of war. First, he says that the serpent is a solar snake similar to the one found in the
history of post-Classic central Mexico (Taube). Next, Taube states that a lot of the Teotihuacan
art in the Maya region is associated with war and the serpent is not an exception out of the
general rule. The study concludes by mentioning that a majority of the rulers of the Classic Maya
monuments often wore the War Serpent Headdress.
Moreover, Taube's ideas are solid in deducing that the War Serpent found at the Old
Temple of Quetzalcoatl represented the office of war among the Mayans. However, Taube
makes several assumptions on the way towards compiling a credible conclusion. For example, he
assumes that the alternating heads of the serpent represent a merger of both internal affairs and
military conquest (Taube). If Taube's assumptions are correct, then he is right to conclude that
there was no distinction between the war and religious aspects in Teotihuacan.
As part of this historiography, Killion and Urcid present the study of Olmec civilization in
Mexico’s southern gulf lowlands, focusing on the spectacular carvings of the time to explore
cultural continuity and change in the region. The authors’ Hueyapan Archeological Project
determined that the population in the Hueyapan region rose severally between 1500 BC and 1500
