Biggest flooded cave on earth offers new insight into ancient Maya culture

Posted On: Apr 22nd, 2018 at 14:37

Mexico
Back in January scientists discovered the two known caves of Sac Actun, 163 miles (263km) long, and Dos Ojos, 52 miles (83km) long, actually connect with one another, and this means it is by far the largest flooded cave system in the world.
But the most remarkable discovery is that some of the cave system is dotted with pristine Maya artefacts, giving an insight into the cave’s significance in Maya culture. It opens up a whole new chapter of Maya history – the underworld – and its importance in religious practices.
Under the famous and well-known pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza lies a tunnel that researchers thought led to a sink hole, now it turns out the tunnel leads to the cave system, ushering in a brand new branch of Maya research. The implications of this finding are shattering to previous Maya research because it shows that there is a completely different level of understanding required to understand the Maya, and this may account for a large percentage of the total research. In other words, our understanding of ancient Maya consciousness needs to be completely adjusted, for there was a whole different world the Maya were actively involved with that was until now hidden.

https://www.sciencealert.com/world-s-largest-flooded-cave-discovered-under-mexico-yucatan-sac-actun