Thanks BenLurkin.
Posted on 03/05/2019 10:05:25 AM PST by BenLurkin
To access just the first of seven ritual offering chambers identified so far within Balamku, archaeologists must crawl flat on their stomachs through hundreds of feet of tortuously narrow passages. In the original report on the cave (recently located by archaeologist and GAM investigator James Brady of California State University, Los Angeles), Segovia identified 155 artifacts, some with faces of Toltec rain god Tláloc, and others with markings of the sacred ceiba tree, a potent representation of the Maya universe. In comparison, the nearby cave of Balankanché, a ritual site excavated in 1959, contains just 70 of these objects.
“Balamku appears to be the ‘mother’ of Balankanché,” says de Anda. “I don’t want to say that quantity is more important than information, but when you see that there are many, many offerings in a cave that is also much more difficult to access, this tells us something.”
Why Segovia would decide to seal up such a phenomenal discovery is still a matter of debate. But in doing so, he inadvertently provided researchers with an unprecedented “second chance” to answer some of the most perplexing questions that continue to stir controversy among Mayanists today, such as such as the level of contact and influence exchanged between different Mesoamerican cultures, and what was going on in the Maya world prior to the fall of Chichén Itzá.
Investigators of the Great Maya Aquifer Project see the (re)discovery of Balamku as a chance to implement a totally new model of cave archaeology, one that employs cutting-edge technology and specialized fields such as 3-D mapping and paleobotany. These new insights could give us a much more detailed idea of what was actually occurring in Maya cave rituals, as well as the history of the great city of Chichén Itzá, which declined for unknown reasons...
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalgeographic.com ...
I’ve done it a couple of times. A looooong time ago. It’s a good thing to have crossed off on one’s bucket list. If it’s on yours, don’t put it off too long. Arthritic and fat is not good in crawlways.
I’ve done it once.
Once.
Looks like a scratch and dent sale at South of the Border.
Climbing the pyramid at chichen itza was enough for me. Acrophobia kicked in; besides the claustrophobia in caves would be unbearable.
Most of it wasn’t too bad, but the section where it was too tight to take a deep breath was a bit uncomfortable.
They were really really short back then.
I hope they find some codices the murderously obtuse, but highly religious, Conquistadors might have failed to destroy.
Those artifacts are broken. If they were put there unbroken, someone has visited the cave and vandalized them. Question is, when? A year ago, 100 years ago, 500 years ago...?
I got wedged in a half mile down in a cave, with a mountain on my back and a mountain on my chest. Just reading about belly crawling in this article brought on a stress reaction.
Kilroy was a shipyard builder. He put his mark in places that then got covered by plates and such.
Thanks BenLurkin.
Th Mayans probably had some easy entrance the archaeologists have not yet discovered, maybe hidden by a fallen rock.
A lot of New World cultures ceremonially break objects before burying them. Lets the spirit out...
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