Ancient Antorador found in the Guatemalan jungle apparently used for sacrifices,

An altar of the Teotihuacán culture, in the pre -Hispanic heart of what became Mexico, was discovered in the Tikal National Park in Guatemala, the center of Mayan culturedemonstrating the interaction between the two societies, the culture and the Ministry of Sports of Guatemala announced this week.

Tikal’s huge city, whose imposing temples are still in the jungle, fought for centuries with the Kaanul dynasty for the mastery of the Mayan world.

Far to the north of Mexico, on the outskirts of current Mexico City, Teotihuacan – “The city of the gods” or “the place where men become gods” – is better known for their twin temples of the sun and the moon. Actually, it was a big city that housed more than 100,000 inhabitants and covered around 8 square miles.

The still mysterious city was one of the largest in the world at its peak between 100 AC and the year 750 d.

Lorena Paiz, the archaeologist who directed the discovery, said it was believed that the altar of Teotihuacán had been used for sacrifices, “especially children.”

“The remains of three children not over 4 years were found on three sides of the altar,” Paiz told News.

“The Teotihuacan were merchants traveling throughout the country (Guatemala),” said Paiz. “The residential complexes of Teotihuacan were houses with rooms and on the central altars; this is how it is the residence that was found, with an altar with the figure that represents the goddess of the storm.”

The researchers published a video on social networks showing aerial aerial images, as well as the details of the interior of the structure.

“It’s unique in Guatemala, nothing similar had been found,” Paiz said in a statement.

Archaeologists have been discovering the altar in a house and analyzing it before the ad.

Edwin Román, who directs the archaeological project of southern Tikal within the park, said the discovery shows the socio -political and cultural interaction between the Maya of Tikal and the Elite of Teotihuacan between 300 and 500 AD

Román said that the discovery also reinforces the idea that Tikal was a cosmopolitan center at that time, a place where people visited other cultures, affirming their importance as a center of cultural convergence.

María Belén Méndez, an archaeologist who did not participate in the project, said that the discovery confirms “that there has been an interconnection between both cultures and how their relations were with their celestial gods and bodies.”

“We see how the issue of sacrifice exists in both cultures. It was a practice; it is not that they were violent, it was their way of connecting with the celestial bodies,” he said.

The altar is shortly from a patio wide from east to west and approximately 2 yards from north to south. It is a high and covered patio with limestone.

The home where he found had anthropomorphic figures with tassels in red tones, a detail of the culture of Teotihuacan, according to the Ministry’s statement.

The researchers published their findings in the Archaeological Magazine Antiquity.

The researchers made their announcement less than a year after a hidden Mayan city was Discovered in a dense Mexican jungle For a doctoral student who, without knowing it, spent the site for years on a visit to Mexico.

The Tikal National Park is about 325 miles north of the city of Guatemala, and the discovery site is monitored and there are no plans to open it to the public. Tikal, a Unesco World Heritage site, reached its peak between 200 and 900 AD when the Mayan culture covered parts of what are now Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.

Teotihuacan, famous for its pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, is about 25 miles northeast of Mexico City. That culture reached its peak between 100 and 600 AD.

Agance France-Presse contributed to this report.

In:
• Guatemala
• Mexico
• Archaeologist