Trash in a Cave

A spelunker found trash in a cave, but it was actually evidence of a lost civilization.

A professional cave explorer, on a mapping expedition in the Tlayococ cave in Mexico found a hidden chamber that contained evidence of an extinct civilization.

Yekaterina Katiya Pavlova went to a community in the Sierra de Guerrero to further map the Tlayococ 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 unknown passage through a submerged entrance.

The passage led to a previously unseen room where two engraved shell bracelets sat atop stalagmites. They also found another bracelet, a giant snail shell, and pieces of black stone discs similar to pyrite mirrors. All of these things dated to more than 500 years ago.

When archaeologists later descended to the cave, they found more items; a bracelet fragment, a piece of burnt wood, and pieces of a total of eight stone discs (two of which were complete).

All of the bracelets were made from snail shells—probably a marine species—and were engraved with anthropomorphic symbols and figures. The engravings featured S-shaped symbols (known as xonecuilli), zigzagging lines, and circles to create human faces in profile. These designs could be meant to indicate deities.

The archaeologists estimate that the items were left in the cave between 950 and 1521 AD. At that time, the area was known to be populated by the now-extinct Tlacotepehaus ethnic group.

One archaeologist felt the items found could help with interpreting symbolic notions, cultural aspects, manufacturing, and trade of the pre-Hispanic societies in the Sierra de Guerrero.

The archaeologists also determined that the stalagmites were manipulated in pre-Hispanic times to give a more spherical finish, possibly to fit ritual needs. It is felt that the symbols and representations of characters on the bracelets may be related to pre-Hispanic cosmogony regarding creation and fertility. The sealed context helps them understand how the ancient inhabitants may have seen these caves—as portals to the underworld, or as sacred spaces connected to the Earth and the divine.

The black stone discs resemble others from nearby regions, such as El Infiernillo, as well as from distant cultures like Huasteca, Mayan states in east-central Mexico.

Historical reports say extreme cold forced the people living in the Sierra de Guerrero, which is located over 7,850 feet above sea level, to lower altitudes. Little is known about the Tlacotepheuas, other than some 16th-century historical mentions of their presence. The shell bracelets could help tell their story.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-spelunker-thought-she-found-trash-in-a-cave-it-was-actually-evidence-of-a-lost-civilization/ar-AA1FF5eD?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=a1e7bc6999b149a6a70e4275bd5155de&ei=77