Exploring "Sacred Lands": The Cave of the Jaguar God

Oct 22

Oct 22 Exploring "Sacred Lands": The Cave of the Jaguar God

An “amazing cave,” belonging to the Mayans, was opened in 2017 after having been sealed for more than 1,000 years. The following segments come from National Geographic and ScienceAlert:

He spotted a tree in the middle of (all) this dryness—and this tree had flowers, and he said, “How could this tree be so green?”

“In the Yucatan, when the Maya prayed for rain, they didn’t only look to the sky.”
“Water is the source of life. Water is in the underground. Water, it's needed for agriculture so they needed rain, they knew rain come from caves. So the cave is part of their symbolic religious-social system.”
“A shaman came to the cave and asked for protection from Maya gods. But he also asked for protection from Catholic saints, and for the spiritual owners of every cenote in the area. And then, Memo headed back into the cave. There was just one other person with him—”
“I think a less determined archaeologist might not have made the discovery he did because he literally crawled on his stomach for about 2 hours. He said after about two hours it opened up into this chamber and in the chamber were just dozens and dozens of untouched incense burners. Maya incense burners that still had charcoal in them. It was like the Maya had just left a day earlier.”

The Cave of the Jaguar God was “discovered” in 1966 by farmers, then resealed, then reopend in 2017 —

"Hundreds of archaeological artefacts in an extraordinary state of preservation."

According to the team, the Late Classic (700–800 CE) and Terminal Classic (800–1000 CE) periods of Maya civilisation, brought droughts to the Yucatán. In natural sinkholes called cenotes and the cave systems branching off from them, the Maya found not just vital groundwater, but divinity.

"For the ancient Maya, caves and cenotes were considered openings to the underworld. They represent some of the most sacred spaces for the Maya, ones that also influenced site planning and social organisation. They are fundamental, hugely important, to the Maya experience."

All images by (Karla Ortega/GAM).
Read/listen more on National Geographic.
Read the full article on Science Alert.