New Research Archaeologists Unearth Intricately Decorated Altar That May Have Been Used for Ancient Sacrifices in Guatemala Discovered in the ruins of Tikal, the altar sheds light on strained relations between the Maya city and Teotihuacán—which was located more than 600 miles away  An artist's rendering of the altar Heather Hurst / Brown University An intricately decorated altar that may have been used for child sacrifices has been found in the ruins of Tikal, an ancient Maya city located in present-day Guatemala. Researchers say it illustrates an ancient clash between cultures. The rectangular altar was built around the late fourth century, according to a study published this week in the journal Antiquity. Its painted panels of red, yellow and black depict a figure wearing a feathered headdress and dangling circular earrings beside objects that may be royal shields. The figure “closely resembles other depictions of a deity dubbed the ‘Storm God’ in central Mexico,” according to a statement. Based on the altar’s design, researchers hypothesize that its creator was a highly skilled artisan from Teotihuacán, located in present-day Mexico—more than 600 miles away from Tikal. Known today for its ancient Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, Teotihuacán once housed over 100,000 people, while Tikal’s population peaked at around 10,000. The two cities were trading partners. But tensions developed in their relationship, especially when people from Teotihuacán started to move into the area around Tikal. The rectangular altar is nearly six feet long. Edwin Román Ramírez / Brown University “The growing sense of things is that rather than just a few folks coming down from central Mexico to sort of trade or interact at Tikal, they were more deeply embedded in the politics and the daily life,” co-author Andrew Scherer, an archaeologist at Brown University, tells Ailsa Chang of NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Historians have been studying the ancient cities’ contentious relationship since the mid-20th century, when they unearthed an inscribed stone detailing some of the tensions at play. It revealed that around 378 C.E., leaders from Teotihuacán exerted control in Tikal. “They removed the king and replaced him with a quisling, a puppet king who proved a useful local instrument to Teotihuacán,” co-author Stephen Houston, an anthropologist at Brown, says in the statement. The newly discovered altar was built during this time. Several years ago, lidar surveys revealed that a small replica of Teotihuacán’s citadel lies just outside Tikal’s center. This research suggested that the people of Teotihuacán had occupied Tikal and were surveilling the city in the years before they took power. The newly discovered altar is the latest piece of evidence for Teotihuacán’s domination of Tikal. A limestone temple at Tikal Brown University “What the altar confirms is that wealthy leaders from Teotihuacán came to Tikal and created replicas of ritual facilities that would have existed in their home city,” Houston adds. “It shows Teotihuacán left a heavy imprint there.” Teotihuacán residential complexes were often made of rooms surrounding a central altar—just like the one found in Tikal, as co-author and excavation leader Lorena Paiz tells the Associated Press’ Sonia Pérez D. Researchers think the altar was used for human sacrifices, “especially of children,” Paiz adds. “The remains of three children not older than 4 years were found on three sides of the altar.” Teotihuacán thrived between 100 B.C.E. and 750 C.E., while Tikal’s peak came between 600 and 800 C.E. Both societies conducted sacrificial rituals as part of their spiritual practices. The new discovery may be “the strongest evidence we have to date, possibly of [Maya] people who were deeply familiar with Teotihuacán culture,” co-author Edwin Román, who leads the South Tikal Archaeological Project, tells Agence France-Presse. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.