Discovery Of Ancient Maya Artefacts In Ritual Cave

Some archaeological excavations, digs or hunts are run-of-the-mill types (really) but then there are the eye-catching stories in the media and very historically important - archaeological discoveries that catch the world's attention.

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And this falls into the latter by far. By chance or by *serendipity, guided by luck or by hard work this does fall into the luck category because the archaeologists were actually "hunting for an ancient sacred well" and discovered something significantly more important to the world, by far!

This is probably going to rewrite many books and many people's views will change about ancient Mayan religious significance.

Here is just a snippet of this amazing discovery overview by the National Geographic team:

Exploration of Balamku (Cave of the Jaguar God) reveals ancient religious practices and may hold clues to the rise and fall of the Maya empire.

Archaeologists hunting for a sacred well beneath the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula have accidentally discovered a trove of more than 150 ritual objects untouched for more than a thousand years in a series of cave chambers that may hold clues to the rise and fall of the ancient Maya.

The discovery of the cave system, known as Balamku or “Jaguar God,” was announced by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in a press conference held today in Mexico City.

After its initial discovery by farmers in 1966, Balamku was visited by archaeologist Víctor Segovia Pinto, who wrote up a report noting the presence of an extensive amount of archaeological material. But instead of excavating the site, Segovia then directed the farmers to seal up the entrance, and all records of the discovery of the cave seemed to vanish.

The amazing news continues:

To access just the first of seven ritual offering chambers identified so far within Balamku, archaeologists must crawl flat on their stomachs through hundreds of feet of tortuously narrow passages.

Ancient Puma Punku Technology To Build The Pyramids Didn't Exist But Yet They Are There - Link.

In the original report on the cave (recently located by archaeologist and GAM investigator James Brady of California State University, Los Angeles), Segovia identified 155 artefacts, some with faces of Toltec rain god Tláloc, and others with markings of the sacred ceiba tree, a potent representation of the Maya universe.

In comparison, the nearby cave of Balankanché, a ritual site excavated in 1959, contains just 70 of these objects.

Related to this whole story in the southern part of what is now Mexico City, archaeologists have discovered a 2,400-year-old grave site with ten bodies entwined in a circle. Southern Mexico is throwing up excellent discoveries. Pre-Aztec Skeletons Found Arranged in Spiral Shape video:

Source National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Source National Geographic.
Source National Geographic YouTube.
Source Sott (Signs Of The Times).
Source Reference Press From.

* Serendipity:
Serendipity means an unplanned, fortunate discovery. Serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery. This Mayan discovery will beneficially help scientists for years if not decades to come, so serendipity does apply here.