When the Aztec's found Teotihuacan they didn't know who built it or why but moved in and made the abandoned complex their own. Is this true and, if so, what other examples are there of "ancient" civilizations claiming ruins they knew very little about for their own purposes?

by BlackMarketMtnDew
Radionatix

Teotihuacan is such a mystery. It's interesting how different cultures have occupied the city for hundreds of years. The Aztecs not only found an big city, but it's structures amazed them. They didn't know who really built them. It was even forgotten the past names of the city. So the Aztecs named the city as Teōtihuācan, meaning in nahuatl as "City of the gods" or "Place where men become god".

So yes. it's true.

As for the examples, well...

Some Mesoamerican cities weren't entirely destroyed and over the years they were repopulated by different cultures. A good example is Cholula. A city built somewhere between the 3th or 4th century with a huge pyramid. The place was also conquered or occupied by different cultures. The Tlaxcanan culture was the last culture that got Cholula, until the spanish came. Still no one really knows who built the pyramid.

I wish I had another example outside of Mesoamerica, but my knowledge goes more the history of Mexico so my apologies.