September 27, 2018

Researchers Find Proof Maya Elite Groups Lived at Teotihuacan

Researchers from INAH and a group of researchers from US universities and from Japan have made new discoveries proving the long term Maya presence at Teotihuacan. They looked at the Plaza of the Columns at Teotihuacan.
The Plaza was used for ceremonial and administrative activities, and as the residence of elites from Teotihuacan and the Maya realm around 350 CE. In 2016, 500 mural fragments were uncovered in this sector, and many are in the Maya style. Years ago, a discovery at the Pyramid of the Moon found Maya style green stone earrings at the site. This new mural discovery affirms the presence of the Maya elite at Teotihuacan as a permanent settlement. 

The Maya glyphs, fluid style, the naturalism of the renderings show a familiarity with the lowlands of the Maya south.. Nearby, there is a cache of animal bones (rabbit, quail, deer) and food seeds (cassava, tobacco, chili, tomato), and pottery. A lid of a glass was found with Maya characters wearing wolf tail headdresses from Teotihuacan. Two thousand pieces of green stone, beads, human figurines, earmuffs and earrings of obsidian and pyrite, large snails and almost complete skeletons of an eagle and a monkey (of a species from the southeast), the skull of a puma and the remains of small snakes were uncovered. They have also found 2,600 human bone fragments that appear to be of dismembered humans who were part of a ritual sacrifice around 400 CE.

Studies of the human bones can now be carried out.

INAH has the report here (in Spanish) http://www.inah.gob.mx/boletines/7579-elite-maya-residio-en-teotihuacan-revelan-hallazgos-en-la-plaza-de-las-columnas

And in English at the Mexico Daily News;https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/evidence-reveals-mayan-elites-lived-in-teotihuacan/

Mike Ruggeri’s Teotihuacan
http://mikeruggeristeotihuacan.tumblr.com