Sharjah24 – AFP: 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.

The paper, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), compared the offering by Maya elites to Teotihuacan to China's panda diplomacy that accompanied the normalization of Sino-US relations in the 1970s.

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," lead author Nawa Sugiyama of the University of California, Riverside told AFP.

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.

Spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) aren't native to the elevated region, leaving Sugiyama with a puzzle to solve: What was the animal doing there, who brought it, and why was it sacrificed?

Vital clues came from the remains' location. Teotihuacan (pronounced tay-uh-tee-waa-kaan), which lies 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Mexico City, was an important site of cultural exchange and innovation in Classic Mesoamerica.

It's perhaps best known for the pyramids of the Moon, Sun and Feathered Serpent. But there is increasing interest in another monument called Plaza of the Columns, a complex where neighboring Maya maintained a presence likened to a modern day embassy.