Trash in a Cave
A spelunker found trashin a cave, but it was actually evidence of a lost civilization.
A professional caveexplorer, on a mapping expedition in the Tlayococ cave in Mexico found a hiddenchamber that contained evidence of an extinct civilization.
Yekaterina KatiyaPavlova went to a community in the Sierra de Guerrero to further map theTlayococ cave. When Pavlova and her local guide reached the bottom of the cave,after exploring all that was already mapped, they opted to head into an unknownpassage through a submerged entrance.
The passage led to apreviously unseen room where two engraved shell bracelets sat atop stalagmites.They also found another bracelet, a giant snail shell, and pieces of blackstone discs similar to pyrite mirrors. All of these things dated to more than500 years ago.
When archaeologistslater descended to the cave, they found more items; a bracelet fragment, apiece of burnt wood, and pieces of a total of eight stone discs (two of whichwere complete).
All of the braceletswere made from snail shells—probably a marine species—and were engraved withanthropomorphic symbols and figures. The engravings featured S-shaped symbols(known as xonecuilli), zigzagging lines, and circles to create human faces inprofile. These designs could be meant to indicate deities.
The archaeologistsestimate that the items were left in the cave between 950 and 1521 AD. At thattime, the area was known to be populated by the now-extinct Tlacotepehausethnic group.
One archaeologist feltthe items found could help with interpreting symbolic notions, culturalaspects, manufacturing, and trade of the pre-Hispanic societies in the Sierrade Guerrero.
The archaeologists alsodetermined that the stalagmites were manipulated in pre-Hispanic times to givea more spherical finish, possibly to fit ritual needs. It is felt that thesymbols and representations of characters on the bracelets may be related topre-Hispanic cosmogony regarding creation and fertility. The sealed contexthelps them understand how the ancient inhabitants may have seen these caves—as portalsto the underworld, or as sacred spaces connected to the Earth and the divine.
The black stone discsresemble others from nearby regions, such as El Infiernillo, as well as fromdistant cultures like Huasteca, Mayan states in east-central Mexico.
Historical reports sayextreme cold forced the people living in the Sierra de Guerrero, which islocated over 7,850 feet above sea level, to lower altitudes. Little is knownabout the Tlacotepheuas, other than some 16th-century historical mentions oftheir presence. The shell bracelets could help tell their story.
