Archaeologists in Guatemala have uncovered ruins that bear similarities to the ancient Mayan city Teotihuacan in Mexico.

A study by Brown University, the University of Texas and the Mayan Cultural and Natural Heritage Foundation of Guatemala (PACUNAM) found in Tikal an archaeological site that is an almost exact replica of the Teotihuacan citadel.

Edwin Roman Ramirez, archaeologist and the South Tikal Archaeological Project (PAST) Director, said: "The most important data comes from this structure, here we can see that it has this structure that was very similar to the architecture that is in Teotihuacan, and it is with this structure that it is behind Mundo Perdido.

"The interesting thing is that this entire region had a lot of evidence of foreign people, for example here a burial was found that was not very common for the Mayan area, the ancients made a grave in a little house and in that Trench they put green obsidian.

The interesting thing is that it is a cremation is not something that is typical of the Mayans, cremation is more common in central Mexico, so we can see that there were many indications, such as architecture, talud-board, here there was that style before the arrival of the Teotihuacanos but that began to be used much more after the year 378, so those are the hypotheses and the objectives that we have in this project, is to try to determine if the Mayans coexisted here and Teotihuacanos in the Early Classic period."

Archaeologists from the United States and Guatemala have discovered in the ancient Mayan city of Tikal, an archaeological and architectural complex that resembles the city of Teotihuacan, located more than a thousand kilometers northeast in a straight line, in central Mexico. A study by Brown University, the University of Texas and the Mayan Cultural and Natural Heritage Foundation of Guatemala (PACUNAM) found in Tikal, located in the north of the Central American country, an archaeological site that is an almost exact replica of the Teotihuacan citadel. On one side of the center of Tikal, an ancient Mayan city that in its splendor reached 90,000 inhabitants, a set of constructions that were hidden for centuries in what were believed to be hills, reveal the powerful influence of Teotihuacan in the Mayan world. Recent studies with Lidar technology have also revealed that the original extension of the city is even greater than previously thought, with buildings and residential neighborhoods covered in jungle, but that extend beyond what was believed to be the city limits. Lidar is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. In interviews, archaeologists working in the South Tikal Archaeological Project (PAST) describe the discoveries, clues and findings, which show the relationship and influence of Teotihuacan in Tikal. Video contains interviews and b-roll of Tikal National Park and ruins, as well as archaeologists and their work in the south project.

Interviews:

Edwin Roman Ramirez – Archaeologist and PAST Director

The project rises as an initiative of several national and foreign archaeologists who had the idea of starting a research project here focused on Tikal. Well, the project started mainly with the LIDAR data, it is a project that is one of the first projects that all your questions come from LIDAR, the interesting thing is that in the original map, in this section here, there were 3 structures that were first represented in the original map as natural mounds, but when using the LIDAR these changed, so when they are observed, it can be seen that they are 3 structures that are not natural.

The most important data comes from this structure, here we can see that it has this structure that was very similar to the architecture that is in Teotihuacan, and it is with this structure that it is behind Mundo Perdido. In these structures, the hypothesis was to test if there was a neighborhood in which Mayans and possibly people from Mexico lived together, from the center of Teotihuacan, because this structure is very unique, there are not many types of structures like this in the Mayan area, and this We have also asked this question using certain data, in the 80s this entire region here was worked by the archaeologist Juan Pedro Laporte, and in this entire section there is a sculpture that is called or known by archaeologists as the Tikal marker, and the interesting thing about this sculpture is that it has 2 sections with hieroglyphic writing, which makes mention of how Tikal was conquered in 378 by people from central Mexico. That one appeared in this area, and the interesting thing is that this entire region had a lot of evidence of foreign people, for example here a burial was found that was not very common for the Mayan area, the ancients made a grave in a little house and in that Trench they put green obsidian, and the interesting thing is that it is a cremation and cremation is not something that is typical of the Mayans, cremation is more common in central Mexico, so we can see that there were many indications, such as architecture, talud-board, here there was that style before the arrival of the Teotihuacanos but that began to be used much more after the year 378, so those are the hypotheses and the objectives that we have in this project, is to try to determine if the Mayans coexisted here and Teotihuacanos in the early Classic period.

Francisco Estrada-Belli – Archeologist and PAST History Advisor

We have a lot of expectations about this work due to the location of these structures within an area that has a lot of evidence of contact with Teotihuacan, and that is a very important connection that has existed between the Mayan area and central Mexico, a certain time, the time of the early classic between 350 and 500 AD. of C. and we archaeologists for many years have seen it as a very important phase in the history of the Mayan culture, of the classical Mayan civilization, and we want to know more about this connection that existed with Teotihuacan, and apparently one of those structures could give the key to how that relationship was.

Pamela Rosales – Archeology student and PAST collaborator

This is a group that is called or has been called "La Ciudadela" especially with its similarity to the data that LIDAR has shown, and they have called it La Ciudadela because, due to its similarity to the citadel of Teotihuacan, which has a quadrangular perimeter, or a pyramid or temple to the east, equal to this only in smaller dimensions.