Echoes of China’s panda diplomacy seen in ancient Maya spider monkey offering
- Researchers said the spider monkey may have been ‘an exotic curiosity’ for Teotihuacan. It was later brutally sacrificed by being buried alive
- They compared the offering, aimed at strengthening ties between two major powers of pre-Hispanic America, to modern-day China’s panda diplomacy
Seventeen hundred years ago, a female spider monkey was presented as a treasured gift – and later brutally sacrificed – to strengthen ties between two major powers of pre-Hispanic America, according to a new study.
By using multiple techniques – including extraction of ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating and chemical dietary analysis – researchers were able to reconstruct the life and death of the primate, finding she was likely between five and eight years of age when buried alive.
“It’s such an exciting time to be doing archaeology because the methodology is finally here,” said lead author Nawa Sugiyama of the University of California, Riverside.
The work began with Sugiyama’s surprising discovery in 2018 of the animal’s remains in the ruins of Teotihuacan, a Unesco World Heritage site in the arid Mexican Highlands.