by Guatemala City (AP)-an altar from the Teotihuacan culture in the pre-Hispanic heart of what Mexico became, was discovered in the Tikal National Park in Guatemala, the center of Maya culture and demonstrated the interaction between the two Mondays, Guatemalas Culture and Ministry of Sports, which had announced Monday.
The huge city-state of Tikal, whose high temples are still in the jungle, fought for centuries with the Kaanul dynasty for the dominance of the Maya world.
Far north in Mexico, somewhat outside of today’s Mexico city, Teotihuacan – “The City of the Götter” or “The place where people become gods” – is best known for their twin stamp of sun and moon. It was actually a large city in which over 100,000 inhabitants were housed and covered about 20 square kilometers (around 20 square kilometers).
The still mysterious city was one of the largest in the world at its peak between 100 BC. BC and 750 AD it was abandoned in the 14th century before the Aztecs rise.
Lorena Paiz, the archaeologist who headed the discovery, said that the Teotihuacan altar was used as a victim “especially by children”.
“The remains of three children who are not older than 4 years were found on three sides of the altar,” Paiz told The Associated Press.
“The Teotihuacan were traders who traveled all over the country (Guatemala),” said Paiz. “The Teotihuacan residential complexes were houses with rooms and in the middle altars. So the residence found, which was found, is with an altar with the figure that represents the storm goddess.”
Archaeologists took 1½ years to uncover the altar in an apartment and analyze before the announcement.
Edwin Román, who heads the archaeological project South Tikal in the park, said
Román said that the discovery also reinforced the idea that Tikal was a cosmopolitan center at that time, a place where people from other cultures visited and reaffirm their importance as the center of cultural convergence.
María Belén Méndez, an archaeologist who was not involved in the project, said the discovery confirmed that there was a connection between the two cultures and her relationships with her gods and heavenly bodies. “
“We see how the victim’s problem exists in both cultures. It was a practice; it is not the case that they were violent, it was their way of combining with the heavenly bodies,” she said.
The altar is a little more than 1 meter from east to west and almost 2 meters from north to south. It is about 1 meter tall and covered with limestone.
The apartment in which it was found had anthropomorphic figures with tassels in red tones, a detail from the Teotihuacan culture, according to the ministry.
Tikal National Park is located north of 525 kilometers north of Guatemala City, and the location of the discovery is guarded and there are no plans to open it to the public.
