The Cave of the Glowing Skulls
Deep in a Honduran cave, explorers' lights fell on a ledge of ancient bones that sparkled and glowed.
What was reported
In 1994, two explorers climbing to a high ledge in the Talgua Caves, in eastern Honduras, found an ossuary: a collection of human bones and skulls, about 3,000 years old, carefully placed in the cave.
The bones were coated with a thin layer of crystal, so that in the light of their lamps, they sparkled and seemed to glow. The site became known as the Cave of the Glowing Skulls.
Explanations offered
Over thousands of years, water dripping through the limestone left a coating of calcite crystals on the bones. Archaeologists say the bones belonged to a culture previously unknown in the region, which practised secondary burial: placing bones in caves after the flesh had gone.
- When
- Discovered in 1994
- Where
- Talgua Caves, near Catacamas, Olancho, Honduras
- Witnesses
- Explorers and archaeologists
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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