Archaeologists working in an ancient Maia city dug up a Mysterious altar of 1,700 years whose bright decorations and dark content can be the key to unravel the complex geopolitics of the time .
Despite finding the altar in Tikal, a ruined Mayan city located in the present Guatemala, the Archaeologists believe he was not decorated by Maias . Instead, they say it was the work of trained artists 1,014 km away in Teotihuacan – a city near the present city of Mexico who had a strong influence on the region.
Prior to this discovery, scholars already knew that the two cultures interacted, although the nature of the relationship was contested. But the richly decorated altar, with two bodies buried below, confirms that “Teotihuacan rich leaders came to Tikal and created replicas of ritual facilities that would have existed in their hometown,” said co -author Stephen Houston, a teacher at Brown University specializing in Maia culture.
“This shows that Teotihuacan left a strong mark there,” he added in a statement.
Houston and his co -authors from the US and Guatemala began excavating the site in 2019, after scanning the area revealed structures under what they thought was a natural hill.
As they investigated, they discovered this altar, which still has a person’s faint contours using a feathers in each panel and traces of bright red, black and yellow paints.
Such a design resembles other representations of a deity known as the “God of Storm”, more common in Teotihuacan than in Mayan art. Two bodies were buried under the altar – one probably from an adult man and the other of a small child, aged 2 to 4, who was buried sitting, a much more common position in Teotihuacan than in Tikal.
The bodies of three other children were discovered around the altar, buried in a similar way to other children’s graves in Teotihuacan. The authors did not specify the cause of their deaths.
These cultural practices point to the growing influence of Teotihuacan on Tikal, the researchers said in their article. And the fact that these constructions were later buried and never built “probably reveals the complex feelings that [os maias] They had about Teotihuacan, ”said co -author Andrew Scherer, professor of anthropology and archeology at Brown.
“The Mayans regularly buried buildings and rebuilt them over them,” he said in a statement. “But here, they buried the altar and the construction around and simply left them, even if it had been a noble place centuries later. They treated the place almost like a memorial or a radioactive zone.”
This most recent discovery reveals another layer of the complex relationship between the two cultures, revealed by recent research. In the 1960s, researchers found a stone with an inscription that described a conflict between the Mayans and Teotihuacan and found that “around 378 AD, Teotihuacan was essentially beheading a kingdom,” said Houston.
“They removed the king and replaced him with a traitor, a puppet king who proved to be a useful local instrument for Teotihuacan.”
This altar was probably built at a time -like time, Scherer said, who eventually boosted the Maia Kingdom to its most powerful point before its decline around 900 AD
The findings of this excavation show “a story as old as time,” Houston added, referring to empires in conflict and competing by cultural influence.
“Everyone knows what happened to Aztec civilization after the arrival of the Spaniards … These powers of Central Mexico reached the Mayan world because they saw it as a place of extraordinary wealth, special feathers of tropical birds, jade and chocolate. For Teotihuacan, it was the land of milk and honey,” he said.
Archaeological discovery in southern Piauí reveals indigenous society
This content was originally published on an altar found in ancient Mayan city can unveil mysteries of the time on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
