The Caves That Led to Xibalba
To the ancient Maya, caves were the mouths of the underworld, Xibalba, the Place of Fear. Deep inside them, they left paintings, offerings and messages.
What was reported
In Maya belief, the underworld was Xibalba, ruled by lords of death with names like One Death and Seven Death. In the Popol Vuh, the great Maya story of creation, the Hero Twins descend into Xibalba and survive a series of deadly tests, in houses of knives, cold, jaguars and bats.
The Maya saw caves as entrances to this world. In Naj Tunich, a cave in Guatemala discovered by a local man in 1979, archaeologists found walls covered with ancient paintings and hieroglyphic texts, left by Maya visitors who made pilgrimages deep underground.
Explanations offered
Caves were genuinely sacred to the Maya, who held rituals in them, and archaeologists have found offerings and burials deep inside many caves in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Maya communities today still regard many caves as sacred places.
- When
- Used by the Maya for over 1,000 years
- Where
- Naj Tunich, Petén, Guatemala
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists and the ancient Maya
- Status
- Confirmed
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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