Ancient Maya settlement discovered

Ruins of a residential area have just been discovered in the ancient city of the Mayan civilization. Through studying these relics, scientists have gradually clarified the relationship between two ancient civilizations in the Americas.

The ruins of the ancient city of Tikal, where the Teotihuacan population was discovered. Autonomous zone in the city To the naked eye – and on archaeologists’ maps – the structure looks like a hill amid the undulating landscape of Tikal, the ancient Maya city-state in the lowlands of northern Guatemala. But when the researchers zoomed in on the image with a laser scanning device called LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), they saw a man-made pyramid structure. , hidden under the soil and vegetation accumulated for thousands of years. This structure is actually part of an old residential area, different from most structures that have existed in Tikal. It has a distinctive shape, orientation and architectural features commonly found in Teotihuacan, a powerful city-state belonging to another civilization, near present-day Mexico City, 1200km west of Tikal. Upon closer inspection, archaeologists found that the complex appeared to be a copy of the giant Citadel square in Teotihuacan but was only half the size. The new discovery of a massive monument at the heart of Tikal – one of the most widely excavated and studied archaeological sites on Earth, shows that LiDAR is revolutionizing archeology in Central America, where these sites The jungle often renders satellite imagery useless. From here, however, a difficult question also arises: What role does an area of ​​the remote Teotihuacan city-state play in the heart of this Maya capital? After studying images from LiDAR, Edwin Román-Ramírez, Director of the South Tikal Archaeological Project conducted excavations in the summer of 2020. Digging tunnels into the site, his team made the discovery. Building tools, funeral offerings, pottery, and weapons are typical of early fourth-century Teotihuacan. From censers decorated with the rain god Teotihuacan, to darts made of green obsidian in central Mexico, the site is likely a quasi-autonomous neighborhood in central Tikal. Román-Ramírez said: “We know that the Teotihuacans had some presence and influence in Tikal and nearby Maya areas before 378. But it is not clear how well the Mayans were associated with the most powerful kingdom in the region. . Now there is evidence that their relationship is even closer than that.” Relationship between two civilizations The ruins of the Citadel Square of the Teotihuacan civilization. Thomas Garrison – a geographer at the University of Texas – Austin (USA), specializing in the use of digital technology for archaeological research, said that the above findings proved to a certain extent that the America’s old town isn’t too different from today’s cosmopolitan cities. “There is a mixture of cultures and people of different backgrounds and languages ​​coexist, maintaining their identity in one city,” he said. A study funded by the Pacunam LiDAR Initiative, which published groundbreaking findings in 2018, reveals a vast network of ancient cities in the Maya lowlands, home to millions of people. people, more than previously thought. Scientists Edwin Román – Ramírez noted that the above findings do not confirm that the builders of the complex came from Teotihuacan. “But what we found shows that, for more than a century people who are more or less familiar with Teotihuacan culture and traditions have lived there, in their own region,” he said. Based on ceramic designs found in the ruins, the team estimates that construction at the site began at least 100 years before 378, an important date in Mayan history. According to the Maya inscriptions, the king of Teotihuacan sent a general called the Born of Fire to overthrow the king of Tikal, Jaguar Paw, and put his young son in charge of the country. Born of Fire arrived in Tikal on January 16, 378, the same day that Jaguar Paw “entered the water” – a Mayan metaphor for death. After being annexed, Tikal flourished for several centuries, conquering and pacifying neighboring cities, and spreading their culture throughout the plains. Tikal’s hegemony during this period is well documented, but it is not clear why, after decades of friendly coexistence, Teotihuacan turned his back on his former ally. Further excavations at Tikal may provide new insights, but a recent discovery in Teotihuacan suggests that cultural conflict may have sparked the breakup between these two powerful city-states. A team of scientists led by Nawa Sugiyama, an archaeologist at the University of California, Riverside (USA), has discovered a “Maya house” at Teotihuacan. The opulent buildings here are decorated with splendid Mayan murals, suggesting that the inhabitants were either elite diplomats or aristocratic families. But just before Tikal was annexed in 378, the murals were smashed to pieces and buried. A nearby pit was filled with shattered human skeletons, indicating the sudden shift from diplomacy to violent confrontation between the two city-states. “What went wrong in that relationship, when a bunch of elite Maya residents were massacred, their buildings were demolished, all their belongings were thrown away, and then their homeland was conquered. ruled by a child king?” asked Francisco Estrada-Belli, an archaeologist at Tulane University. It is also one of the great mysteries of Central America that scientists are trying to answer.