Cranial Bowls, Broken Bones, and Precious Bodies: The Presence of Teotihuacan at Tikal

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Landscapes of Death: Placemaking and Postmortem Agencies" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

For decades, scholars have recognized ties between the Central Mexican metropolis of Teotihuacan and the Maya city of Tikal, particularly in the wake of a poorly understood event in AD 378. At Tikal, the strongest evidence for that connection comes from the southern edge of the site center, within a precinct centered around an architectural complex that, in its later stages, resembled the Ciudadela of Teotihuacan. Despite much Central Mexican material culture in this zone, the burials are consistent with Maya mortuary traditions, and isotopic evidence has yet to identify people who spent part of their childhood outside the Maya area. Beyond the burials, however, are deposits of human remains that point to the distinct treatment of the dead in this part of the city. This includes 69 offering vessels carved from human crania and numerous broken and polished long bones, among other disarticulated human remains. Moreover, the bodies of at least three children associated with a Teotihuacan style altar are likely the remains of human sacrifice, a practice that was shared by both cities at this time. This paper considers those remains relative to the making (or unmaking) of the Central Mexican precinct at this great Maya city.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Landscapes of Death: Placemaking and Postmortem Agencies

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50389