1,700-Year-Old Monkey Remains Give Insight to Ancient Cultures

According to the Maya and Teotihuacán of Mesoamerica, spider monkeys are the trick to diplomacy.

By Sam Walters
Nov 25, 2022 2:00 PM
Spider Monkey Remains
(Credit: Nawa Sugiyama, UC Riverside)

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Powerful people have a history of gifting animals — and especially exotic animals — to their peers as a symbol of their power and their friendship. And a recent discovery provides novel insights into this tradition between the Teotihuacán and the Maya.

A new paper published in PNAS states that a 1,700-year-old spider monkey skeleton found inside an ancient administrative complex in Mexico reveals the relationship between the two neighboring cultures.

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