Forts & Tumuli
Forts & Tumuli Landforms and earthworks of indigenous burial mounds (tumuli) and colonial fortifications are the subject of this book. These landscape drawings combine the precision of terrains’ lines and contours, with the expression of narrative, experience, and time. In-Cover: Teotihuacån - Stefan Herda Cover: Fort Warren - Duidui (Elva) Hu
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Indian Mounds Dagmar Ivanenko
The core first year Master of Landscape Architecture Visual Communications II course, at the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, focuses on visualization techniques that enhance graphic literacy and spatial imaging technique, using 2 and 3-dimensional media. Through a series of drawings, including mappings, plans, sections, elevations and perspectives, as well as physical models using CNC and 3D prints. The course emphasizes the depiction of the ground and the exploration of phenomenological qualities of place over time. Each student chose an existing fort or tumulus, which they analyzed and depicted in varying phenomenological conditions. The course centered around four drawings that were edited in an iterative manner. The first pair of drawings were devoted to the physical description of the terrain’s geometry; with an emphasis on topography and its context, vegetation and urban form. Through 2D planometric and sectional depictions, these drawings illustrated the unique topographic, cultural and experiential qualities of the given fort or tumulus. The aim of the second pair of drawings was to illustrate the cultural, ephemeral, transitional, phenomenological and experiential qualities of the site through both a “big picture” drawing and a visual narrative. These narratives were based on either historical events from the site or fictional stories of relevance or interest. This exercise allowed students to construct a visual narrative that situates the physical design of the built work within socioeconomic, cultural, and theoretical drivers, forces and frameworks of time.
Fadi Masoud
Assistant Professor Landscape Architecture and Urbanism University of Toronto
Cahokia Mounds Collinsville, Illinois 1100 CE Agata Mrozowski p 1-12
Castillo de Los Tres Reyes Del Morro La Habana, Cuba 1589 Bernardo Velasco p 13-20
Fort bij Vechten Bunnik, The Netherlands 1867-1870
Fort George Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario 1796
Yuhan Mao p 49-58
Tina (XinXin) Cui p 59-68
Castillo San Felipe del Morro San Juan, Puerto Rico 1539
Castillo San Marcos St. Augustine, Florida 1672-1695
Castle Island Boston, Massachusetts 1634
Evelyn Babalis p 21-28
Howard Rosenblat p 29-38
Gabriela Gallo p 39-48
Fort Jay Governors Island, New York 1794
Fort Warren Boston, Massachusetts 1833-1860
Fort Werk aan het Spoel Culemborg, The Netherlands 1816-1864
Nadia Chan p 69-78
Duidui (Elva) Hu p 79-90
Ngai Chiu p 91-100
Fort York Toronto, Ontario 1793
Grave Creek Mound Moundsville, West Virgina 250-150 BCE
Alex Sheinbaum p 101-108
Temira Bruce p 109-118
Indian Mounds Saint Paul, Minnesota 200 BCE
La Citadelle de Québec Québec City, Québec 1850
Dagmar Ivanenko p 136-146
Xinran Sui p 147-156
The Great Serpent Mound Peebles, Ohio 320 BCE
Halifax Citadel Halifax, Nova Scotia 1749
Madison Appleby p 119-126
Agatha Molendowski p 127-135
Fort de Roovere Halsteren, The Netherlands 1628
Tulum Quintana Roo, Mexico 564 CE
Pirรกmide del Sol Teotihuacรกn, Mexico 100 BCE - 250 CE
Hasnain Raza Akbar p 157-164
Sarah Turkenicz p 165-175
Stefan Herda p 176-187
Cahokia Mounds Collinsville, Illinois 1100 CE
Agata Mrozowski 1
Driving east on Collinsville Road, in the Mississippi valley, gentle mounds swell above the horizon line. Their grassy volumes reaching for the sky. Vast swaths of mowed lawn cover kilometer stretches of the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Oak, hickory, and cedar stand stoically, their vascular webs pulsating and cycling life, holding the secrets of time past. Here, the 120 earthen mounds, are signs of a time dating back to the 11th and 14th Century where the largest metropolis north of the great Mesoamerican cities in Mexico and Central America stood. The mounds, aligned to the constellations in the celestial skies, and the solstice calendar, were sculpted by shifting land - adding, subtracting, pushing, pulling – all by hand and basket in honour of the chiefs – the greatest expression of loyalty. The depth of this devotion is best exemplified in the largest of the earthworks, Monks Mound, where a climb up the summit to where the governance resided, lends an immense view of the ancient territory meeting the cosmos.
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Castillo de Los Tres Reyes del Morro La Habana, Cuba 1589
Juan Bernardo Velasco Canela 13
Los Tres Reyes del Morro Fort, located in La Habana, Cuba, was built 500 years ago. This Fort has repelled invasions from England and the US through many years, however, the strongest battles the Fort had resisted are the constant hurricanes that hit this tropical island. Now, Cuba is preparing to be hit by a 5 category hurricane named Irma, a Hurricane that was formed in the warm waters of the Caribbean and the strongest hurricane that will landfall La Habana in the last 50 years. The hurricane has been travelling north after making al landfall in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. Now Cuba soon will be hit. People are preparing to face the power of Hurricane Irma. Boats are sailed from open sea through the Canal de la Entrada, protected by El Morro Fort, and docked in La Habana Bay to avoid further destruction. Traffic in downtown La Habana is moving slow as people are travelling far from the coast to higher places to avoid flooding or being injured by strong winds. However, despite the efforts, La Habana will flood and the boats will get destroyed, but El Morro will remain intact as it has been the last 500 years despite invasions and Hurricanes.
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Castillo San Felipe del Morro San Juan, Puerto Rico 1539 Evelyn Babalis
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The Castillo San Felipe del Morro, weathered through the ages, has guarded the treasured lands of Puerto Rico’s San Juan harbour for centuries. A tropical landscape, rich in ecological diversity and culture, it surely attracted the attention of privateers and pirates seeking to reap the wealth of the island. Thus, its Spanish colonizers established del Morro knowing the land and its people must remain protected from the harsh realities of the coastal port and its enemy invasions. Sure enough, San Juan faced a great deal of battery, but only grew stronger and more resilient with each attack. Following every battle, citizens would assemble to build upon del Morro’s fortification, helping it grow in size and strength. The Castillo San Felipe del Morro remained valiantly undefeated by its grueling attacks from the sea, until its purpose to protect slowly dwindled away as did its attackers. The fort no loner saw violence. As time wore on, attacks ceased, and a fort which once stood in defence lost its purpose for the better. A lighthouse was built on its highest point, giving the fort a new purpose. The Castillo San Felipe del Morro now exists as a beacon of peace, guiding seafarers and sailors into San Juan, inviting them to share in the beauty of its priceless landscape and culture.
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Castillo San Marcos St. Augustine, Florida 1672 - 1695 Howard Rosenblat
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We have long since missed our target. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have melted causing unprecedented rise in the world’s oceans, forcing people inland. The two-degrees change was thought to be the worst of our problems, but a new paradigm was created and the world slowly adjusts. How could we know? Should we have listened? In St. Augustine (Florida) we have been experiencing some of the dramatic effects as our coastlines are slowly eroded and we entre a new water-soaked world. We tried adapting and stabilizing our coast with Mangrove planting, but it has only hastened the re-wilding of our landscape as it moves by will of the moon. The lonely Castillo San Marcos is our beacon of hope; a reminder of humanity’s ability to persist. We can and will survive. – Anonymous citizen
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Castle Island
Boston, Massachusetts 1634 Gabriela Gallo
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A biohazardous fungus comes into Boston through a boat shipment entering The Seaport District. This infection attacks the Boston population living and working in the vicinity rapidly and the realization of how strong it is, becomes apparent. As the fungus starts to take over the city, it is decided by the Boston government to transport anyone who is still healthy to the peninsula of Castle Island. Three months after the fungal infection outbreak the Island and adjacent shipping container area becomes fully operational as a place of quarantine. Shipping containers have been transformed into dwelling spaces, offices, check-up rooms, food stations, critical care units, etc. Fort Independence is now a main laboratory for testing and defense against the spread and curing of the infection. There has been a force field placed over the entire area to hinder any transmission of the infection through airborne means. Herb gardens and vegetable gardens have been created for possible naturopathic remedies as well as providing fresh food. Stale air is collected outside the force field in tubes so that fresh air can be circulated into the area. There are in and out portals on both the West and East Sides of the site. A marine laboratory is also set up to test the bacteria in the water and see if the infection has been spread to the marine life or carried in the water itself. Since people are to be living within the bubble for an extended period of time, programming for different activities has been created as well as watch towers with drone operators to make sure everything is in order. The goal is to keep the remaining people healthy while also trying to find a way to defeat the fungus. As the Island has constantly been a place of defense and protection throughout history, this point in time gives a new meaning in defense, fortification and protection as the fungus encroaches onto and underneath the peninsula.
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Fort bij Vechten
Bunnik, Netherland 1867-1870 Yuhan Mao
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Fort bij Vechten constructed between 1867 and 1870, is one of the 46 fortresses that make up the Nieuwe Hollandsche Waterlinie, a 85km long and 3-5km wide, military defense line which was made up of an ingenious system of inundation zones, bastions and walled cities. After many years of neglect, the grassed structure – all the buildings taking up 10% of the site are buried - was completely overgrown. The site is surrounded by a wide moat and as a result of its isolation, the site now hosts numerous rare and endangered plant and animal species. One of the highlights inside the museum is the 50 metre long open air replica of the entire New Dutch Waterline. The project will be focus on the evolution of function in the site over different time period, the transition from preventing the flood to war fort, and then a designed museum. The buildings on the site fluctuate with the contour line, underground or half underground. More than 20 buildings are hidden on the island as barracks and ammunition warehouses. The surrounding water restricts people’s access to the island, and the dense forest makes the whole site even more mysterious. Only the 80 meter wide strip area is deliberately exposed, showing its original barren appearance. If one day the war begins again, people will flee from the surrounding villages to the fort. Because of the unique semi underground structure, the terrain on the fort will provide shelters for people.
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Fort George
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario 1796 Tina (XinXin) Cui
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Built overlooking the Niagara River, Fort George is a Canadian historical landmark built by the British between 1796 and 1799. The fort has been through many conflicts and wars, destroyed and rebuilt, occupied by different nations, and finally became a war themed amusement park open to the public, allowing visitors to play the role of a solider through virtual reality equipment to experience battle-themed games and look back on the history of Fort George. It’s a round of a new game and a battle is formed between two groups. The team representing the Canadian side aims to protect the fort acting as the headquarters for the nation while the American team tries to take over the fort that will become their basecamp to invade this land. Warfare starts now; both teams have just arrived at Fort George. All think they are in for an adventure and are sure they will survive and win the game. Bullets tear through the air and scar the walls of the narrow caved passageway that protects the fort. After a few hours of virtual bombardment by cannons from the American side, the fort was captured by American. “The time is up, and the winner goes to the American team!” Fort George staff came out and announce the end result, “Hope you enjoyed the game.” Visitors slowly exit the park, while the establishment gets ready again for the next round of players.
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Fort Jay
Governors Island, New York 1794 Nadia Chan
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It is the spring of 1918, and the people of Governors Island are in anticipation for the annual Spring Lawn Party. The band is in practice, and costumes hang in closets as party-goers wait eagerly. The island’s population is at an all-time high, with newly built infrastructure to support the US involvement in World War I, over 3000 workers were now visiting the island daily, and all are invited. The air is buzzing with excitement. A party of this size on Governors Island has yet to be seen. But over the water, grey clouds are looming. The global influenza sweeps the island. In a matter days, the island’s capacity is stretched to its furthest limits. Hospitals are crammed and temporary wards are required to set up tents. The new railroad built to carry military equipment now brings in cargos full of nurses. Lines of barracks housing troops are plagued with illness, military soldiers are left without roofs over their heads. At Fort Jay, party hosts are horrified, bewildered that guests will no longer be in attendance. They cry to the General. Shall we postpone until next Friday? We must build herd immunity. Liberate Governors Island! In a senseless rage, the General declares: The party must go on.
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Fort Warren
Boston, Massachusetts 1833-1860 Duidui (Elva) Hu
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Fort Warren was constructed between 1833-1860. The place once served as a prison for the Civil War on George’s island, now is a place for walks and scenery. It is also, where the scary story, “The Woman In Black,” took place. During 186l, a Confederate soldier was imprisoned at Fort Warren, on George’s Island. His wife, Malenie Lanier received a letter from him stating that he had been imprisoned at Fort Warren. She then started planning how she’ll free him from that prison. Women were not allowed on the island. One dark and stormy night, Lanier decided to dress up as a soldier and went on her way to save her husband. Once she found him, she got caught by a Union officer. Lanier forcefully grabbed the pistol she had brought with her and held the officer at gunpoint. Unfortunately, the pistol blew up in her hand when she pulled the trigger. The stray bullet hit the person beside her which happened to be her husband, causing him to die. Due to her actions, she needed to be executed. Her final request was to wear women’s clothing. They didn’t have any dresses to offer her, so instead, they gave her an old black robe. She got executed while wearing that robe. After that day, her spirit always haunted that island. It is said that when she appears, the environment suddenly changes. Wind would get heavier, ocean tides would go higher, and there would be heavy storms and rain just like the day she got caught.
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Fort Werk aan het Spoel
Culemborg, The Netherlands 1816 - 1864 Ngai Chiu
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Werk aan het Spoel in Culemborg, Netherlands, is a national monument dating back to 1816 as part of the New Dutch Waterline; a military defence line making use of intentional flooding, Werk aan het Spoel served to protect one of the inundation locks. While much attention is given to its current state of revitalization, the narrative of this project is decidedly focused upon its historical use as a military defence system and a forgotten period in the early 2000s where we find the site in an uncomfortable ambiguity. Ordinances like dynamite, hazardous chemicals and warheads lay dormant within soil covered bunkers, where bomb disposal units frequented the site to uncover and collect abandoned weaponry. Utilizing high contrast elements to emphasize the power of water as a line of defence, the drawings in this project play with the conflation of time. The colour black is consistently employed to represent the depths and strength of water, exploring the notion that water is a material malleable to adapt and to become a powerful barrier.
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Fort York
Toronto, Ontario 1793 Alex Sheinbaum
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What would happen to the urban landscape if humans were not the dominating species? As witnessed in the docu-series “Planet Earth II: Episode 6,” cities are becoming home to many non-human communities, some of whom are adapting to our growing urban sprawl. These urban landscapes are predominately built for humans first, and this ambiguous other ‘nature’ second, if at all. Spaces where ‘nature’ is put first, such as green and blue parks and other designated open spaces, have the potential to serve as important social nodes for many urban megafauna that live in cities, similar to how parks today act as social hubs for human communities. Modern downtown Toronto is a dense, concrete, anthropocentric landscape that offers few spaces for urban fauna, such as pigeons, geese, and raccoons. Modern-day Fort York is an important piece of green infrastructure and connects downtown’s “Core Circle,” as described in the TOcore Downtown Official Plan. This perception of downtown Toronto being a ‘city within a park’ is dampened by the lack of diversity in urban communities; parks are rarely composed of a single flora or single fauna. The largest swath of greenspace that makes up FOrt York is primarily covered by a lawn monoculture, which does not promote biodiversity for urban flora or fauna. Rather than being left as an underused open space, Fort York could become a haven for Toronto’s urban fauna. This reimagined Fort York ponders an alternate landscape at Toronto’s waterfront, with urban raccoons, pigeons, and geese, among other urban fauna, essentially taking over our public spaces. New types of flora will grow as a result of these new animal seed vectors; neighbouring vegetation such as euonymus and staghorn sumac from Trinity Bellwoods along with red and bur oaks and red and sugar maples found along our waterfront.
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Grave Creek Mound
Moundsville, West Virginia 250-150 BCE Temira Bruce
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The grave creek mound located in Moundsville, West Virginia was built around 250-150 BC. The construction of this mound is credited to a group of people we now refer to as the Adena people however this name was established by those who studied them, and it is unknown what they would have referred to themselves as. They were a group of people who constructed many similar mounds throughout the Ohio river valley. Grave creek mound is the largest conical Adena mound in the world and unlike many others has survived till present day despite the razing of so many of these mounds for archeological or curious means. The mound measures in at 90m wide and 21m tall and would have involved moving 60,000 tonnes of earth. It is believed to have been constructed in stages as it consists of various burial chambers stacked one on top of another. The mound was originally surrounded by a 12m wide moat with a singular causeway for access. Moats surrounding burial mounds are not uncommon and presumably existed to protect mounds and those that lie beneath them. The moat at Grave Creek Mound was lost to time and only a small divot in the ground remained as any indication of what used to be. In the year 2025 landscape architects are unveiling their new project on the site of Grave creek mound. In the face of increasing heavy rainfall events due to climate change in Moundsville, the city is attempting to combat the issue by restoring the mounds moat, adapting its original form to a larger floodable landscape and detention area. The moat will have a renewed existence to once again protect the ancient burial ground but also to protect the city that has developed around it.
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The Great Serpent Mound Peebles, Ohio 320 BCE
Madison Appleby 119
A meteorite’s impact on the land 320 million years ago, a message from time, a remnant from the birth of our solar system. Time transported and imprinted into the Earth. Encoded in the elemental composition and shape of the surrounding rocks marking the landscape as other. Many years have covered this violent upheaval of life in a layer of living matter but still the faint shadow remains. The Adena culture with their deep connection with the land possibly recognized this “otherness” and added their own layers of charcoal, sandy-silt, and fire burned earth. The reasons behind the creation of the “Great Serpent” effigy mound is and will remain a mystery, its secrets locked away with the death of the Adena culture. But through history we can attempt to translate their meaning. In the Mississippian mound building culture, the “Great Serpent” was thought of as a symbol of the Underworld and was a great malevolent spirit. It was a reminder that time and death are inevitable, like the river winding beside the mound it continues in an unbroken cycle. Until the next piece of space debris decides to make an appearance… Later, in this brief human history additional layers were added in the form of modifications by the Fort Ancient people and today we have added our own layers of a concrete and gravel path. As time progresses after the impact the Earth recovers, life is reborn and creeps from the outer edges to the center of the great astrobleme. This succession is reflected not only in the trees but in the different scales of human life and culture that imprint themselves on the land. The forest is carved out to create space for a great serpent shaped effigy mound. The serpent is and will forever remain a mystery.
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Halifax Citadel
Halifax, Nova Scotia 1749 Agata Molendowski 127
Destruction. Destruction everywhere. What we took for granted crumbles. What we know as our norm has all but evaporated. This is what happens when we aren’t careful. This is what happens when we become too complacent, too comfortable. We forget who our enemy is. We forget that evil is disguised. It masks itself as our protector. And this is what happens when we anger our “protectors”. This is what happens when we defy, confront, resist, our oppressors. Maybe it is for the best. Maybe it had to happen this way. To free us. Everything is covered in a suffocating smoke. Natural phenomenon? Another mechanized weapon? No one knows anymore. All I know is the Haven. I am drawn to it. No smoke, no destruction. It calls to me. I wonder if it is real.
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Indian Mounds
Saint Paul, Minnesota 200 BCE Dagmar Ivanenko
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Indian Mounds Regional Park has six remaining Native American burial mounds located atop limestone and sandstone bluffs overlooking downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. At least sixteen burial mounds originally existed along the bluff top. It is thought that the mounds were created between ca. 200 BCE to 400 CE by the Hopewellian Peoples, though the mounds remain sacred to the Dakota Tribe today. Unfortunately, certain mounds were excavated at various moments in time by parties interested in Minnesota’s history. During the late 1800s, insensitive methods of exploration were used to document twelve of the eighteen mapped mounds producing an inventory of excavation information and burial types. Later, the site officially became a park for recreation with walking paths built on top surviving mounds. In 1929, an airway beacon was constructed as part of an airmail delivery signal network, creating a new disruption to the land. By the 1980s changes in historical land preservation began to occur; intruding roads were removed and fences were erected. In present day, newly uncovered evidence of what lies beneath Indian Mounds Park has St. Paul city officials, nearby residents and the Dakota Peoples debating the removal of park trails which veer around the mounds. The public discourse surrounding the removal of the trails has led to the planned removal of the entirety of the trails; limiting access to the park and enabling the potential for the rehabilitation of the land. Over generations the site has become one of continuing contention. The land - unearthed, removed and repurposed - is portrayed in a palimpsest-like series outlining the earth-moving evolution of the Indian Mounds Park from a sacred burial site to an 1800s’ archaeologist’s dream to a place of potential reconciliation and protection dialogue - all creating an impression on the land through a version of construction.
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La Citadelle de Québec Québec City, Québec 1850 Xinran Sui
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In the general office of Citadelle of Quebec, General Richmond was wearing a sky-blue shirt, and his black pants outlined his long legs. He stood in front of the window, and the blue hawk eyes stared at the outside. He saw the flow of St. Lawrence river, maple woods growing on steep hills throughout the years, the soldiers lined up in neat squads, and the city was set at the back as always. Three days later, he would follow the command of British empire government, having a joint military exercise with US military. Although it was a peaceful friendly exercise, everyone known that it was of great significance between the two countries. Started from the Revolutionary War, the United States has been constantly causing troubles at the border of the country. The Prime Minister did not advocate the use of army force to solve problems, but blind concessions would only make the opposite party even more arrogant. The Prime Minister of empire had specifically met with General Richmond, the command he gave was clear and simple. The British army must show their power. As for Richmond, who was going to have home battle, but the order that the Prime Minister gave made him troublesome. How would he rehearse the army in order to show the strength of the British army? And what is the real purpose of this exercise? General Richmond was lost in thought. General Richmond’s confusion last till the day when the military exercise began. When he heard the roar of the plane in the sky, he saw the close cooperation of the warships on the river, and the hard exercises of the soldiers of the two countries at every place of the fort. He realized that showing military strength might not be the point. The original intention of the two leaders of the countries was to let go of the previous complaints and moved towards peace. Although the armies of the two countries are equally outstanding, peace is what people have always wanted.
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Fort de Roovere
Halsteren, The Netherlands 1628 Hasnain Raza Akbar
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As far as the eye could see, there was a horizontal green landscape in Halsteren, Netherlands. The scene was divided into two halves. A body of sky and earth meet at horizontal line in the centre. The flat landscape has irregular rises as some spots. However, in the distance there is a geometric landform that rises from the earth. Surrounded by needles sticking out of the ground, the regular shape of the earth is certainly captivating. It is so empty here. How else can I describe this landscape, besides it being green and blue. My exploration will help me understand, what happens to the site during the presence and absence of green and blue. And how the landscape transforms over the year creating unique scenes for visitors of the area.
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Tulum
Quintana Roo, Mexico 564 CE Sarah Turkenicz
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On the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico, sitting on a 12-metre-high limestone cliff, the ceremonial complex of Tulum was home to the Mayans from around 1200 AD until the 15th century. Archaeologists have evidence that by the end of the 16th century, the population was killed off by the Spaniards when they introduced Old World diseases into the area to destroy the native population. Today the local population of Tulum is facing a new existential threat, and that is the Instagram and rave culture that has turned Tulum in to the “it” destination. While Tulum is masked with an eco-conscious façade through its beautiful clear blue Caribbean waters and underground river system that allows tourists to connect with nature, “the sacrifices being asked of tourists is miniscule, as seen by the government sign instructing visitors on how to respectfully interact with sea turtles through the request of “not sitting on them”. While it is the endless white sandy beaches that people are flocking to Tulum for, the EDM festivals and boutique hotels that require the continuing clearings of the surrounding jungle is catching up. Sargasso seaweed has now been seen to completely cover these white sandy beaches as a result of developers pumping their sewage into the ground. While we perceive modernity as synonymous with progress, Tulum humbles us in demonstrating that it is precisely these developments that are leading it to catastrophe.
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Pirรกmide del Sol
Teotihuacรกn, Mexico 100 BCE -250 CE Stefan Herda
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We journeyed for days along the windswept mountains. The last of the rain season ceased, and a valley opened before us like a green jewel emerging from the dust. From behind a patchwork of rainclouds, two temples emerged amongst the grid of a massive city. A central roadway beckoned us northward under a rusty evening sky. It took us a day to descend from the mountains. The valley was lush, the new green a welcome sight. This valley was fertile. Tracts of what was once farmland for maize were all around us, overgrown with cacti. This must have been a productive capital. But where had everyone gone? We continued along a broad central avenue, gently ascending past the slope and stood awestruck before the first great temple. The late afternoon sun cast shadows across it tiers, commanding our entire view. We sheltered in its courtyard, tracing our hands over the old carvings of Quetzalcoatl and the many others we knew and worshipped as night fell. This was once a great holy place. I couldn’t sleep. Tempestuous dreams of a Storm god, like our Tlaloc, clouded my mind. I left camp and continued alone to the final pyramid under a blanket of moonlight. Ascending to the summit, the great city unravelled before me in all directions. I looked back over the distance we had travelled. Past the avenue to the mountains beyond, overcome by the sheer expanse of time and history before me. “This must be the place where the gods were created.”
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Acknowledgments Teach Assistants: Ambika Pharma (MLA ’20) Louisa Kennett (MLA ‘21) Book Layout: Louisa Kennett (MLA ‘21) Alex Sheinbaum (MLA ‘22) 191