Tikal got into the formidable Teotihuacan. Paid audacity for centuries

A recently discovered altar, buried near the center of the old Mayan town of Tikal in Guatemala, is shed by new light on 1600 -year tensions between Tikal and Teotihuacan’s Mexican central capital.

A few steps from downtown Tikal, a 2,400 -year -old Mayan city in the heart of the current Guatemala, a team of researchers unearthed a buried altar that can unravel the secrets of a Mysterious time of agitation in the ancient world.

The altar, built around the end of the Years 300 DC., It is decorated with four panels painted red, black and yellow, representing a person with a shielding and shield or perks.

The face, with almond eyes, a nose and a double ear pavilion, is very similar to other representations of a deity nicknamed “GOD OF THE STORM“No central Mexico.

In a published Tuesday in the magazine AntiquityBrown’s researchers, along with co-authors from the United States and Guatemala, argue that the painted altar It was not the work of a Mayan artist.

Instead, they believe it was created by a highly qualified artisanwhich will have been trained in Theotihuacan – The formidable ancient power whose headquarters was 630 miles to the west, on the outskirts of the present city of Mexico.

“It is increasingly clear that this was a Extraordinary period of turbulence Em tikal ”, diz Stephen HoustonProfessor of Anthropology and Art History at the University of Brown at the University.

“What the altar confirms is that Teotihuacan rich leaders came to Tikal and created replicas of ritual facilities that would have existed in their hometown. This shows that Teotihuacan left a strong brand Em tikal ”.

Even before they discovered the altar, Houston and his colleagues knew that the Maias interacted with Teotihuacan for centuriesbefore its relationship becomes narrower.

Founded on about 850 BC, Tikal existed during generations as a small city ​​with little influence – Before you become a dynasty around the year 100 DC

Archaeologists have evidence that Tikal and much more powerful theotihuacan They began to regularly interact about two centuries later. What at first seemed to be a casual trade relationshipexplains Houston, quickly became Something more litigation.

“It’s almost as if Tikal had stung the beast And the attention of Teotihuacan was too much, ”says the investigator.” It was at that time that foreigners started to arrive in the region. “

An ancient coup d’état

According to Houston, over several decades, academics have collected increasing evidence of a uncomfortable relationship between the two cities.

The investigation began in the 1960s, when archaeologists found a cut stone and mutilated with a well -preserved text that described the conflict in general terms.

Thanks to the text of the stone, they learned that “around 378 AD, Teotihuacan was essentially to behead a kingdom“Houston said.” They removed the local king and replaced him with a puppet king who proved to be a useful local instrument for Teotihuacan. “

Decades later, using light detection and range technology, a U.Brown team discovered a replica on a reduced scale of the citadel From Teotihuacan around the center of Tikal, buried under what archaeologists believed to be natural hills.

The discovery suggests that, in the years before its fall, the presence of Teotihuacan in the city of Maia probably involved an element of occupation or surveillance.

Second Andrew Schererprofessor of anthropology and archeology at U.Brown and co -author of the study, the altar was built Around the height of the coup. But the exterior of the altar, meticulously painted, is not the only proof of the presence of the Capital Heavy Hand.

Inside the altar, the archaeologists found a buried child in a sitting position, a rare practice in tikal but common in Teotihuacanand an adult buried with a dart tip made of green obsidian; The material used and the dart tip design are characteristic of Teotihuacan.

The fact that the altar and the area around them were buried later, says Scherer, cemented the research team theory that the presence of Teotihuacan left Tikal forever changed – and even marked.

“The Mayans regularly buried buildings and rebuilt them over“Explains Scherer.“ But here, they buried the altar and the surrounding buildings and simply left us-almost like a radioactive zone, which shows the complicated feelings they had in relation to Teotihuacan ”.

Power generates power

“Complicated” is a proper way to describe Tikal’s collective memory about Teotihuacan’s coup, says Houston.

The event can have Tikal shaken to its corebut eventually made the old kingdom most powerful: Over the following centuries, Tikal has become a dynasty almost unparalleled, before decliningaround 900 AD, along with the rest of the Mayan world.

“There is a kind of nostalgia in relation to this timewhen Teotihuacan was at the height of his power and becoming increasingly interested in the Mayans, ”says Houston.“ They looked back almost missing. Even when they were declining, they continued to think of local politics in the context of this contact with Central Mexico. ”

As they discover more details about the controversial history of Teotihuacan and Tikal, Houston and Scherer say they are both impressed with how familiar it seems: an almighty empire finds paradise e decide Pot your riches.

“Everyone knows What happened to Azteca civilization After the arrival of the Spaniards, ”said Houston.

“Our findings show that it is a history as old as time. These powers from Central Mexico entered the Mayan world because they saw him as a place of extraordinary wealth, special feather on tropical birds, jade and chocolate. For Teotihuacan, It was the land of milk and honey“.