Hidden Mayan altar used to sacrifice children unearthed in abandoned 'city of the gods'

An has been unearthed that is believed to have been used to sacrifice children in an abandoned 'city of the gods'.

The Teotihuacan altar was uncovered in Tikal National Park in - believed to be the centre of . Archaeologists were stunned by the discovery, which they hope can shed new light on how the ancient cultures interacted. Guatemala's Culture and Sports Ministry announced the incredible discovery yesterday, saying it was made within the of Tikal.

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The archaeologist who led the discovery, Lorena Paiz, said the Teotihuacan altar was believed to have been used for sacrifices - "especially of children". Remains of children no older than four were found around the sides of the altar, which took archaeologists a year and a half to uncover and analyse before the announcement.

"The remains of three children not older than four years were found on three sides of the altar," Ms Paiz said. She explained: "The Teotihuacan were traders from all over the country.

"The Teotihuacan residential complexes were houses with rooms and in the centre altars; that's what the residence that was found is like, with an altar with the figure representing the Storm Goddess."

Edwin Román, who is leading the South Tikal Archaeological Project within the park, explained that the discovery showed the sociopolitical and cultural interaction between the Maya of Tikal and the elite of Teotihuacan between 300 and 500CE. Tikal was the ceremonial centre of the ancient Maya civilisation, starting out as a small village before blossoming into an important ceremonial centre with the construction of major pyramids and temples. Eventually, it grew into an enormous city-state, battling for centuries with the Kaanul dynasty for dominance of the Maya .

Meanwhile, Teotihuacan lay far to the north in Mexico, just outside modern-day Mexico City. Known as 'the city of the gods' or 'the place where men become gods' it is best known for its twin Temples of the Sun and Moon. Mr Román said the discovery also reinforces the idea that Tikal was a cosmopolitan centre, where people visited from other cultures, reinforcing its importance as a centre of cultural convergence at the time.

María Belén Méndez was not involved with the project, but the archaeologist said the discovery confirms "that there has been an interconnection between both cultures and what their relationships with their gods and celestial bodies was like." She said: "We see how the issue of sacrifice exists in both cultures. It was a practice; it's not that they were violent, it was their way of connecting with the celestial bodies."

The altar is just over 1m wide from east to west and nearly 2m from north to south. It stands about 1m tall and is covered with limestone. The dwelling where it was found had anthropomorphic figures with tassels in red tones, a detail from the Teotihuacan culture.

Teotihuacan was a densley populated city, home to more than 100,000 people, coveriing just eight square miles. At its peak, between 100 BC and AD 750, the mysterious city was one of the largest in the world, but it was abandoned before the rise of the Aztecs in the 14th Century.