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Guatemala City, Apr 8 (AP) An altar from the Teotihuacan culture, at the pre-Hispanic heart of what became Mexico, was discovered in Tikal National Park in Guatemala, the centre of Mayan culture, demonstrating the interaction between the two societies, Guatemala's Culture and Sports Ministry announced on Monday. The enormous city-state of Tikal, whose towering temples still stand in the jungle, battled for centuries with the Kaanul dynasty for dominance of the Maya world. Also Read | Tariff War: US President Donald Trump Threatens China With 50% Additional Tariff, Doubling Total Levies Beyond Product Value.
Far to the north in Mexico, just outside present day Mexico City, Teotihuacan -- “the city of the gods” or “the place where men become gods” -- is best known for its twin Temples of the Sun and Moon. It was actually a large city that housed over 1,00,000 inhabitants and covered around 20 square kilometres. The still mysterious city was one of the largest in the world at its peak between 100 BC and AD 750.
But it was abandoned before the rise of the Aztecs in the 14th century. Also Read | US President Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Meet at White House, Discuss Gaza Hostages Crisis and Tariffs (See Pics). Lorena Paiz, the archaeologist who led the discovery, said that the Teotihuacan altar was believed to have been used for sacrifices, “especially of children.
” “The remains of three children not older than four years were found on three sides of the altar,” Paiz told The Associated Press. “The Teotihuacan were traders who travelled all over the country (Guatemala),” Paiz said. “The Teotihuacan residential complexes were houses with rooms and in the centre altars; that's what the residence that was found is like, with an altar with the figure representing the Storm Goddess.
” It took archaeologists 11⁄2 years to uncover the altar in a dwelling and analyse it before the announcement. Edwin Roman, who leads the South Tikal Archaeological Project within the park, said the discovery shows the sociopolitical and cultural interaction between the Maya of Tikal and Teotihuacan's elite between 300 and 500 AD. Roman said the discovery also reinforces the idea that Tikal was a cosmopolitan centre at that time, a place where people visited from other cultures, affirming its importance as a centre of cultural convergence.
Maria Belen Mendez, an archaeologist who was not involved with the project, said the discovery confirms “that there has been an interconnection between both cultures and what their relationships with their gods and celestial bodies was like.” “We see how the issue of sacrifice exists in both cultures. It was a practice; it's not that they were violent, it was their way of connecting with the celestial bodies,” she said.
The altar is just over 1 metre wide from east to west and nearly 2 metres from north to south. It is about 1 metre tall and covered with limestone. The dwelling where it was found had anthropomorphic figures with tassels in red tones, a detail from the Teotihuacan culture, according to the ministry's statement.
Tikal National Park is about 525 kilometres north of Guatemala City, and the discovery site is guarded and there are no plans to open it to the public. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body).
