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| Remains of a Pleistocene bear from 2.5 million years ago, in the Sac Actun underwater cave in Quintana Roo state, Mexico, in an image published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) on February 19, 2018 (AFP Photo/HO) |
Mexico City
(AFP) - Archaeologists who have been exploring the world's largest underwater
cave -- recently discovered in Mexico -- presented their findings Monday,
including fossils of giant sloths and an elaborate shrine to the Mayan god of
commerce.
Researchers
discovered last month that two large networks of underwater caves in Mexico's
Yucatan peninsula, the Sac Actun and Dos Ojos networks, are in fact connected,
forming the largest such structure on Earth.
Diving with
SCUBA gear, they have been exploring the ancient relics left in the caves over
the millenia, in a project sponsored by Mexico's National Institute of
Anthropology and History (INAH).
Researchers
believe the water level in the caves has fluctuated over time, and that they
were a source of water in times of severe drought -- a sometimes perilous one.
Some of the
animals and humans who ventured inside never made it out alive. Today, their
remains are a treasure trove for scientists, enabling them to piece together
bits of the cave's history dating all the way back to the Pleistocene epoch
(2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
 |
Remains of
a mask in the Sac Actun underwater cave in Mexico's Quintana Roo
state, from an
image published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History
(INAH) on
February 19, 2018 (AFP Photo/HO)
|
The animal
remains include gomphotheres -- an extinct elephant-like animal -- as well as
giant sloths and bears, archaeologists told a press conference.
Then there
are the artefacts left inside by humans: burnt human bones, ceramics, wall
etchings and more.
"It is
very unlikely that there is another site in the world with these
characteristics. There is an impressive amount of archaeological artefacts
inside, and the level of preservation is also impressive," said Guillermo
de Anda, an underwater archaeologist.
The relics
include a shrine to the Mayan god of war and commerce, with a staircase accessed
through a sink-hole in the middle of the jungle.
Many other
of the hundreds of sink-holes that connect to the cave have elaborate signs of
ritual activity around them, archaeologists said.
The ancient
Mayans viewed caves, "and especially ones that led to water, as extremely
sacred places," the INAH said.
