If film buffs remember it above all for being the rebel base of the first
Star Wars
, the great Mayan city of Tikal, in northern Guatemala, is above all known to archaeologists and tourists for the impressive pyramids of its monumental center.
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Located at the center of the geographical area of the Mayan civilization, the ancient city, which once extended over an area of nearly 15 km2, housed at least one more pyramid. Hitherto confused with a natural elevation, hidden under the lush flora of the Mesoamerican jungle, the monument was discovered in 2018 by means of aerial LiDAR laser prospecting, a technology already at the origin of several other discoveries in the area. region. Far from being just another banal pyramid, the excavations carried out there since 2019 have discovered that it was in fact a small sector foreign to the local culture. Completely surprising, this new set opens up new perspectives on the history of the city of Tikal.
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Placed in the southern outskirts of the city, the structure indeed stands out clearly from the rest of this pre-Columbian urban center which had reached its peak in the 7th-8th centuries AD. Surrounded by an enclosure and several small buildings, the newly discovered pyramid was part of an architectural ensemble whose orientation and forms, in the eyes of specialists, agreed with the other buildings on the site, while appearing to them strangely familiar. And for good reason: this complex was a miniature reproduction of the so-called Citadel square, in the center of Teotihuacan. About 1000 km from Tikal! The esplanade, the enclosure and even up to the pyramid - a smaller reproduction of the temple of the Feathered Serpent - transposed to Tikal, and to the astonishment of archaeologists,the general layout of the Mexican site.
1/3 - Detail of the heart of the complex discovered on the Mayan site of Tikal Thomas Garrison / Iniciativa PACUNAM LiDAR 2019
2/3 - Detail of the heart of the complex discovered on the Mayan site of Tikal Thomas Garrison / Iniciativa PACUNAM LiDAR 2019
3/3 - Detail of the heart of the complex discovered on the Mayan site of Tikal Thomas Garrison / Iniciativa PACUNAM LiDAR 2019
“We knew that the Teotihuacanos had at least some presence and influence in Tikal and the neighboring Mayan regions before the year 378, but we did not know if the Mayans were only imitating certain aspects of the most powerful kingdom in the world. region ”
, explained in a press conference the archaeologist Edwin Román-Ramírez. Director of the excavation at Tikal, the researcher has carried out several campaigns since last year on the whole complex just discovered in Guatemala, and established that the links of the sector with Teotihuacan were not limited only to architecture, but also to material culture.
The ceramic, in teotihuacan form, was adorned with the effigy of Tlāloc, the rain god worshiped by Tikal's Mexican neighbors;
the obsidian objects also came from the Mexican plateau;
the weaponry was similar in every way to the typical 4th century arsenal found at Teotihuacan.
Finally, funeral practices and offerings also corresponded to those of the prestigious northern metropolis.
So many elements that lead Edwin Román-Ramírez to believe that this district was undoubtedly an enclave or a semi-autonomous colony of Teotihuacan.
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A vestige of the relationship between Teotihuacan and Tikal
If the chronology of this pyramid and the surrounding complex is still poorly known, the archaeologist estimates that its construction dates back to at least a century before the year 378, which saw a military incursion of Teotihuacan storm the city and impose a new dynasty. A long-term interaction between Tikal and Teotihuacan, marked by the presence of this dedicated district, would therefore have preceded this violent historical episode.
"We cannot say for sure that the people who built all this were from Teotihuacan, but they certainly knew the culture and traditions of the city very well"
, explained Edwin Román-Ramírez, while confiding in the Guatemalan daily
Prensa Libre
that the creation of this set might be attributed to a nobleman from Teotihuacan.
"It must have been some kind of dignitary from Teotihuacan who lived in central Tikal,
" he said.
One of the biggest mysteries in Central America is about to be unraveled.
Francisco Estrada-Belli
The archaeologist, who is still awaiting the results of a study of bones discovered on the spot, remains cautious about the origin and the precise identity of the occupants of this sector.
"What we found suggests that for over a century people who were at least very familiar with Teotihuacan lived in their own colony, a distinct area in its identity and practicing the Teotihuacan religion."
, summarized Edwin Román-Ramírez. The discovery is all the more important since it is related to a more modest complex recently discovered in Teotihuacan. Richly decorated according to the taste of the Mesoamerican Peninsula, this set which could have been the seat of a Mayan embassy was deliberately destroyed… just before the year 378. A date which is a direct link with the capture of Tikal.
"It is obvious that we are putting our finger on a very important event in the history of the Mayas and Teotihuacan, and that one of the greatest mysteries in Central America is about to be unraveled"
, enthused archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli, quoted by
National Geographic
.
As excavations continue in Tikal, solving this old diplomatic mystery may well be one of the most unexpected findings of LiDAR surveys in Central America. Using laser technology, the readings of this scanner make it possible to precisely map the relief of a site and, by extension, to identify anthropogenic structures that would have gone unnoticed there. The system is therefore particularly useful in wooded contexts such as Tikal, the Mayan city being lost in the midst of the abundant Guatemalan forest cover. In short, it offers something to dream of, for some time to come, of forgotten temples and lost cities.