Diversion Association

With the strong association of Teotihuacan with heritage and the urgency of political, social and economic issues indelibly linked to the zone and manifested by the recent Walmart controversy, should it be concluded that frivolous engagements are minor consideration? Are all visits to sites of the archaeological imaginary motivated by ‘serious’ interests or activities? Might visiting a large site such as Teotihuacan be simply for non-specific enjoyment, for diversion as something to do? Pre-questionnaire fieldwork indicated that many individuals, particularly families, simply visited the zone for reasons akin to attending a theme park. Replete with vendedores ambulantes, or traveling craft vendors, hawking cheaply made goods vaguely imitating prehispanic themes (bows and plastic arrows are a favorite amongst children), shopping at the zone is an inextricable side activity. With the exception of the least utilized gate 4, all visitors entering the zone pass through a series of craft vendor shops (Figure 7.36). As a shop attendant commented, “most people want a souvenir [recuerdo] of the pyramids. Something that says they have been here. So many foreigners like buying T-shirts, shot glasses [vasos para trago], postcards [tarjetas], even ashtrays [cericeros]. Others like the obsidian figures [estatuas de obsidiana] or crystals [objetos de cristal]. It depends on what interests someone [depende en lo que se interesa]. . . most days are slow, and some of us only open for the weekends when we sell a lot to tourists” (stall attendant, gate 5).

Figure 7.36: market stalls lining the entrance (gate 2) to the archaeological zone

Likewise, with various cultural events regularly occurring within the site, such as the staging of performances by Aztec bailadores or dancers in full regalia (Figure 7.37), and a multitude of off-site food stalls and a restaurant housed in the converted museum, coming to Teotihuacan presents a range of entertaining spectacles and activities. “It makes visiting more fun. The pyramids are incredible, but having dancers makes it more interesting because there is more to see. It makes the heritage more alive [hace al patrimonio cultural mas viviente] to have cultural events. I like it. But my family thinks it is silly [cómico]” (visitor watching Aztec bailadores).

Figure 7.37: Tourists (mostly Mexicans) watching a dance performance at in the Pyramid of the Sun plaza by a Mexico City Aztec dance troop

On busy days, holidays and weekends, a tram operates on the site, ferrying visitors between the major monuments (Figure 7.38). Popular with families and the elderly, the tram ferries people around the pyramids so that they avoid having to ambulate the series of steep staircases which line the original avenue (calle or avenida de los muertos). Replete with flags, shaded seats and (sometimes functional) audio narration, the tram evokes a Disneyland ride. For those more inclined to have a workout, joggers frequently run the nearly 2 kilometers of the avenida avenida in the morning before the arrival of visitors. “It is good exercise. I enjoy coming early – I know the guards – and running from the Ciudadela to the Pyramid of the Moon. . . All the stairs of the Avenida make it hard, and if you want, you can run up the pyramids like mountains. Plus it is a safe and quiet place to exercise” (regular morning ‘site jogger’).

Figure 7.38: A motorized tram which operates on the busiest days to transport visitors between the major monuments

Finally, for long visits to the archaeological zone, there are only four main hotels in the area (in San Juan de Teotihuacan), two of these are ‘five star’, resort type hotels. A Club Med and the newly completed Quinto Sol (adjacent to the Walmart) feature swimming pools and restaurants, and are popular amongst foreign tourists and wealthier, vacationing Mexicans. While no doubt Teotihuacan is visited to reasons of heritage and interest in archaeology, it is also cultural tourism. INAH, in fact, has recently begun promoting just this sort of cultural tourism by promoting an advertising campaign entitled “INAH’s new cultural tourism” [El Nuevo turismo cultural de INAH], or TCI (see http://www.inah.gob.mx/). Visiting sites such as Teotihuacan is seen as doing something different on the weekends, asking “What are you going to do this weekend?” [¿Que vas a hacer este fin de seminal?], and suggesting that a trip to Mexican archaeological sites will be fun and different alternative to normal weekend get-aways.

Any serious and systematic study of the associations formed through Teotihuacan, therefore, must account for the ‘non-serious’ dimension as well – one apparent to most archaeologists working at monumentally replete archaeological sites yet little considered. To tap this level of engagement with the site, a series of questions were formulated on the questionnaire. These were then run through factor analysis to ascertain which questions consistently loaded together on a single factor (Table A2.2). Those questions that ‘hung’ together were then included on the diversion scale relative to their factor coefficient (arrived at through rotation factor analysis, see Chapter 6). The result was a weighted-factor based diversion scale with the following questions.

• Reason for Visit-family activity
• Services INAH should provide-public conferences/events
• Visiting Teotihuacan is for diversion
• Visiting Teotihuacan is not educational
• Visiting Teotihuacan is for health

The resulting frequency distribution for the scale is visualized in Figure 7.39.

Figure 7.39: Frequency distribution: diversion scale score

The scale score, standardized to have a lower limit of zero and upper score of ten (1-10), had a mean of 3.1, demonstrated a moderate variance (s=2.0) around this mean and had normal distribution (small values of skewness and kurtosis). Based upon the chi square analysis (Table A2.32), this distributions is unlikely due to sampling error. Comparing this mean to the other scale scores’ means (all standardized between one and ten) indicates that diversion was on average much more weakly associated with Teotihuacan, especially in comparison to Heritage or Archaeology. However, this association is stronger than others discussed later (such as personal economic or personal spirituality). And overall diversion is a weak to moderate association with the archaeological zone. While minor, and to be expected given the discussion of events surrounding a heritage association, diversion still plays a role in the value of Teotihuacan.

Figure 7.40: Frequency distribution: diversion scale score for visitors

Dividing the sample into the primary subgroups, the mean distribution scale score of 2.93 for ‘workers’ was closest to the overall diversion mean. The largest discrepancies were bookended by ‘visitors’, who held a mean of 3.39 (Figure 7.40), and ‘students’ with a mean of 2.76 (Figure 7.41). With the exception ‘workers’, I had expected these distinctions. Intuitively, ‘students’, with higher overall higher education levels, ought to deemphasize such a ‘non-edifying’ value for Teotihuacan. Analogously, we might predict that ‘visitors’ may come to the zone for ‘cultural tourism’ and to enjoy a ‘different kind of weekend’. Yet, given their greater exposure to archaeological information and notions of the site as heritage, I thought ‘workers’ would exhibit much lower diversion scores. Based upon the different demographic backgrounds of these groups, there are likely different factors accounting for these diversion associations.

Figure 7.41: Frequency distribution: diversion scale score for students

So what factors played a significant part in associating Teotihuacan with diversion? For the overall sample, most of the primary background variables did not demonstrate strong relationships with the diversion scale score. Only gender exhibited a very weak, non-linear relationship to the scale score (Table A2.34). A comparison of this cross-tabulation in conjunction with the Eta correlation coefficient of 0.144 indicates that males and females demonstrate an equitable rating on the scale for values under 6.0, but that for greater values (stronger diversion association) males tend on average to be more heavily represented. But this is a minor relationship, and is of restricted relevance as the vast majority of values fall well below a value of 6 (Figure 7.39).

Exploring other potential factors, education level and the motivational factor of visiting the site to learn about culture and origins showed negative, linear relationships with the scale score (Table A2.33). Thus the higher the respondent’s level of education, the lower the association with diversion. This correlation (-.173), though weak to moderate, confirms the intuition that those more educated would be more exposed to non-diversionary reasons for valorizing Teotihuacan. The site would be more highly associated with an edifying function as an extension of education. And as far as the motivation of visiting the site to learn about culture and origins, this indeed seems confirmed by the tandem negative correlation (-.201) of this motivation with the diversion scale score. Conceptually, the inter-relationship between these two significant variables and their influence upon the scale core would be that greater education increases the likelihood of associating the site with a manifestation of culture and origins. (The inverse logic would posit education level as dependent or influenced by the specific motivation to visit Teotihuacan to learn about the past.) The partial correlation (Table A2.33), controlling for visit for culture and origin, lends weight to this formulation of causal direction. This indirect causal relationship between education level and an diversionary association with Teotihuacan, as mediated by the motivation to visit to learn about culture and origins, is visualized graphically in Figure 6.4.

Figure 7.42: Indirect causal relationship: education level with diversion scale score controlling for visit to learn about culture and origin

However, looking at factors involved with each subgroups scale score exhibits some differences. These factors with their correlations are listed below.

• ‘Workers’: age (0.250); income (-0.233); education level (-0.265)
• ‘Students’: Visit for culture and origins (-0.305); Teotihuacan should be respected as place of ancestors (-0.319)
• ‘Visitors’: Visit for culture and origins (-0.228); visit museums (-0.144); spoken to archaeologists (-0.176)

These correlations by group amplify the relationship to diversion portrayed in Figure 6.4, as well as identify a range of factors accounting for differences in the relative strengths of the association noted in Figures 7.40-7.41). Education level plays a more moderate to substantial for ‘workers’, with lower education corresponding to higher diversion scores. While inter-group comparisons indicate ‘workers’, in general, are less educated than ‘visitors’ and ‘students’, restricted just ‘workers’, those who are less educated held greater diversionary values. Additionally, age and income play a role for ‘workers’. Those older and of lower income had a slightly stronger diversion association. While expectations of ‘status’ (income and education level) to be correlated an archaeological association were not supported by the data, ‘status’, specifically the status of older ‘workers’, does confirm to intuition with regard to holding ‘non-serious’ values of Teotihuacan.

The correlations specific to ‘students’ were limited to motivational and attitudinal factors. These results indirectly corroborate the role of education in determining a diversion association. As ‘students’ tend to be have all higher and more homogenous education levels, this factor remained fairly constant across diversion scores. This gave greater weight (substantial to moderate correlation) to the mediating factor of ‘visit for culture and origins’ (-0.305). An additional attitudinal consideration comes into play with ‘students’, however, in the belief that Teotihuacan is a place of the ancestors and so should be respected. Both of these are logically related to taking Teotihuacan more seriously, both as a source for education and as a materialization of heritage and spirituality, rather than viewing the zone as a place of enjoyment. These beliefs, tied to their greater education, shed light on why they held the overall lowest diversion association.

‘Visitors’, on the other hand, held the highest scores for diversion relative to the other groups. But, interestingly, factors pertaining to exposure (speaking to archaeologists and visiting museums) and a prior interest learning about their heritage (visit for culture and origins) all corresponded to lower scores. This enables the supposition that given more exposure to the edifying dimensions of Teotihuacan while at the site, which may be sought out due to the prior desire to learn about heritage and archaeology, visitors to the world heritage site will grant less importance to the theme park experiences. Overall, the higher the education level the more likely an individual will not associate Teotihuacan with diversion. Inversely, the higher the education level the more likely an individual will be motivated to learn about culture and origin at Teotihuacan. Education is the primary, indirect causal factor determining an association of diversion, reinforcing the intervening variable of a desire to visit and learn about culture and origins. Collectively these two variables form an indirect relationship with diversion.

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Containments

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Posted at Jan 14/2009 06:01AM:
Good evening. Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing. I am from China and learning to speak English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "They always find reasons for why it’s not a good time to go for it and start a business."

With best wishes :), Hunter.