GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — An altar from the Teotihuacan culture, at the pre-Hispanic heart of what became Mexico, was discovered in Tikal National Park in Guatemala, the center of Mayan culture, demonstrating the interaction between the two societies, Guatemala’s Culture and Sports Ministry announced Monday.
The enormous city-state of Tikal, whose towering temples still stand in the jungle, battled for centuries with the Kaanul dynasty for dominance of the Maya world.
Far to the north in Mexico, just outside present day Mexico City, Teotihuacan -- “the city of the gods” or “the place where men become gods” -- is best known for its twin Temples of the Sun and Moon. It was actually a large city that housed over 100,000 inhabitants and covered around 8 square miles (20 square kilometers).
The still mysterious city was one of the largest in the world at its peak between 100 B.C. and A.D. 750. But it was abandoned before the rise of the Aztecs in the 14th century.
Lorena Paiz, the archaeologist who led the discovery, said that the Teotihuacan altar was believed to have been used for sacrifices, “especially of children.”
“The remains of three children not older than 4 years were found on three sides of the altar,” Paiz told The Associated Press.
“The Teotihuacan were traders who traveled all over the country (Guatemala),” Paiz said. “The Teotihuacan residential complexes were houses with rooms and in the center altars; that’s what the residence that was found is like, with an altar with the figure representing the Storm Goddess.”
It took archaeologists 1½ years to uncover the altar in a dwelling and analyze it before the announcement.
Edwin Román, who leads the South Tikal Archaeological Project within the park, said the discovery shows the sociopolitical and cultural interaction between the Maya of Tikal and Teotihuacan’s elite between 300 and 500 A.D.
Román said the discovery also reinforces the idea that Tikal was a cosmopolitan center at that time, a place where people visited from other cultures, affirming its importance as a center of cultural convergence.
María Belén Méndez, an archaeologist who was not involved with the project, 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.”
“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,” she said.
The altar is just over a yard (1 meter) wide from east to west and nearly 2 yards (2 meters) from north to south. It is about a yard (1 meter) tall and covered with limestone.
The dwelling where it was found had anthropomorphic figures with tassels in red tones, a detail from the Teotihuacan culture, according to the ministry’s statement.
Tikal National Park is about 325 miles (525 kilometers) north of Guatemala City, and the discovery site is guarded and there are no plans to open it to the public.
FILE - A view of Temple I, also known as Temple of the Great Jaguar, stands in northern Tikal National Park, in Peten, Guatemala, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
An illustration of a Teotihuacan-style altar that was recently discovered in the Mayan site of Tikal is displayed on a screen as Guatemalan archaeologist Lorena Paiz, right, speaks during a press conference at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing six people, including a family of Spanish tourists, in the latest aviation disaster in the U.S., officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and that the dead — including three children — had been recovered and removed from the water. The flight lasted less than 18 minutes, officials said.
Witness Bruce Wall said he saw the helicopter “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off. The propeller was still spinning without the aircraft as it fell, he said.
Dani Horbiak was at her home in Jersey City, New Jersey, when she heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.” She looked out her window and saw the chopper "splash in several pieces into the river.”
The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Video of the crash showed parts of the chopper tumbling through the air into the water. The overturned aircraft was submerged, with rescue boats circling it, near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel on the New Jersey side of the river.
The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey. Email and other messages were not immediately returned.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police departments. It was initially developed for the U.S. Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.
Video of the crash suggested that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.
It’s possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.
“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” Green said. “There’s no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.”
The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights. Manhattan has several helipads that whisk business executives and others to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.
Over the years, the city has seen multiple crashes, including a collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson River in 2009 that killed nine people and the 2018 crash of a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights that went down into the East River, killing five people.
Thursday’s crash was the first fatal helicopter crash in New York since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.
Recent crashes and close calls have left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S.
A medical transport plane killed seven people when it plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington — the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation.
First responders from New Jersey and New York respond to the scene where a helicopter crashed in the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
In this photo taken from video, a helicopter falls from the sky into the Hudson River , Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (Bruce Wall via AP)
A crane vessel arrives at the scene where a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene where a helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene Thursday, April 10, 2025, where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene Thursday, April 10, 2025, where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
First responders from New Jersey and New York respond to the scene where a helicopter crashed in the Hudson River, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
As seen from Pier 40 in New York, police and fire crews from New York and New Jersey respond to the scene Thursday, April 10, 2025, where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
First responders walk along Pier 40, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in New York, across from where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)
A New York Fire Department Marine 1 boat departs from Pier 40, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in New York, across from where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)
First responders walk along Pier 40, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in New York, across from where a helicopter went down in the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)
