A new analysis of the 1,700-year-old remains of a spider monkey unearthed in 2018 in the arid highlands of Mexico suggests the primate was presented as a gift by Maya elites to Teotihuacan – and later sacrificed to strengthen ties between the two pre-Hispanic American powerhouses.
Researchers, including those from the University of California Riverside in the US, suggest the monkey’s skeletal remains point to the earliest evidence of primate captivity, translocation and gift diplomacy between the Teotihuacán and Mayan elite.
