TIKAL, GUATEMALA—According to a statement released by Brown University, an international team of archaeologists discovered an altar in the Maya city of Tikal that is characteristic of the Mesoamerican culture centered at Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan, located outside of present-day Mexico City, thrived between the first and eighth centuries a.d., when it had a population of as many as 100,000. The new discovery is some of the strongest evidence to date that they had cultural interactions with Maya cities more than 600 miles to their southeast. The four painted panels of the late fourth-century altar, which was found in an elite residential complex, feature images depicting the central Mexican Storm Goddess with a feathered headdress. The altar's adornment was likely not the work of a local Maya artist but an individual who had been trained in Teotihuacan. The relationship between Tikal and Teotihuacan may not have been overly cordial, however, as experts believe the Teotihuacanos' presence in Tikal may have resembled something closer to occupation. “It’s increasingly clear that this was an extraordinary period of turbulence at Tikal,” said Brown University archaeologist Stephen Houston. “What the altar confirms is that wealthy leaders from Teotihuacan came to Tikal and created replicas of ritual facilities that would have existed in their home city. It shows Teotihuacan left a heavy imprint there.” Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. For more, go to "New Neighbors."
