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More on the Mayan Maze

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Avenging Angel
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« on: August 17, 2008, 05:38:19 am »

Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found in Mexico
Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:09am EDT  Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page | Recommend (-) [-] Text
  • By Miguel Angel Gutierrez


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld.

Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels, researchers discovered the stone ruins of eleven sacred temples and what could be the remains of human sacrifices at the site in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Archeologists say Mayans believed the underground complex of water-filled caves leading into dry chambers -- including an underground road stretching some 330 feet -- was the path to a mythical underworld, known as Xibalba.

According to an ancient Mayan scripture, the Popol Vuh, the route was filled with obstacles, including rivers filled with scorpions, blood and pus and houses shrouded in darkness or swarming with shrieking bats, Guillermo de Anda, one of the lead investigators at the site, said on Thursday.

The souls of the dead followed a mythical dog who could see at night, de Anda said.

Excavations over the past five months in the Yucatan caves revealed stone carvings and pottery left for the dead.

"They believed that this place was the entrance to Xibalba. That is why we have found the offerings there," de Anda said.

The Mayans built soaring pyramids and elaborate palaces in Central America and southern Mexico before mysteriously abandoning their cities around 900 A.D.


http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1442474520080815
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Avenging Angel
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« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2008, 05:39:42 am »



Archeologist Guillermo de Anda, one of the lead investigators, works at a site in the village of Tahtzibichen in Merida, Yucatan Peninsula, April 12, 2008. Mexican archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld.

REUTERS/Team of investigators/Alejandro Perez/Handout
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« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2008, 05:41:15 am »

Archeologist Guillermo de Anda, one of the lead investigators, works at a site in the village of Tahtzibichen in Merida, Yucatan Peninsula, April 12, 2008. Mexican archeologists have discovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones, which ancient Mayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered the underworld.

REUTERS/Team of investigators/Alejandro Perez/Handout
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« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2008, 05:56:55 am »

Underworld Maya Temples Discovered     
 


Hard to reach complex buildings found at some cenotes

 

To enter Maya underworld, Xibalbá, a tortuous road had to be walked; at the end, according to Popol Vuh, the sacred Maya book, there was a lake with houses, where hard tests had to be accomplished.

 

National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY) archaeologists think they may have found this legendary route inside caves and cenotes (sinkholes). Several constructions have been discovered in these underground spaces.

 

Guillermo de Anda Alanis, director of El Culto al Cenote en el Centro de Yucatan (Cult to Cenote in Central Yucatan) initiative, revealed that finding these buildings has been a pleasant surprise, as they seem to corroborate what historical sources described.

 

“Caves have been modified to house temples probably dedicated to Xibalba cult; considering they are located in hard to reach places, buildings are complex, some shafts reaching 30 or 40 meters long.”

 

“In one cave a Sacbe, or ritual roadway has been discovered: it is almost 100 meters long, well cemented and constructed as Chichen Itza one. It runs from East to West, and turns where a body of water is found, to end in front of a stalactite and stalagmite column that reminds a Ceiba tree, Maya symbolic ancestor. This is proof of an intentional trace, similar to Balakanche cave, at Chichen Itza.”

 

The UADY underwater archaeologist detailed the roadway ends in 3 platforms that reach the water. A model is observed in several caves: a natural doorway bricked up with stones to leave a small access, 1 meter high and 60 cm wide.

 

Some of these spaces kept burials and offerings, such as earthenware and sculptures; dating ceramic tests reveal they were offered between Pre Classic and Post Classic periods, most of them belonging to Late Classic (750-850 AD) age. Among findings, a 1,900 years old vessel is the earliest piece discovered in Northern Yucatan.

 

First stage of the El Culto al Cenote initiative was research: one 16th century historical source refers to idolatry persecution, where 17 caves and cenotes where Maya practiced rites are mentioned.

 

To the present day, the initiative is at in situ check up stage, with Yucatan INAH Center collaboration.
 
  http://dti.inah.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1602&Itemid=150
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« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2008, 01:10:09 am »

Portal to Maya Underworld Found in Mexico?Alexis Okeowo in México City
for National Geographic News


August 22, 2008
A labyrinth filled with stone temples and pyramids in 14 caves—some underwater—have been uncovered on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, archaeologists announced last week.

The discovery has experts wondering whether Maya legend inspired the construction of the underground complex—or vice versa.

According to Maya myth, the souls of the dead had to follow a dog with night vision on a horrific and watery path and endure myriad challenges before they could rest in the afterlife.

In one of the recently found caves, researchers discovered a nearly 300-foot (90-meter) concrete road that ends at a column standing in front of a body of water.

"We have this pattern now of finding temples close to the water—or under the water, in this most recent case," said Guillermo de Anda, lead investigator at the research sites.

"These were probably made as part of a very elaborate ritual," de Anda said. "Everything is related to death, life, and human sacrifice."

Stretching south from southern Mexico, through Guatemala, and into northern Belize, the Maya culture had its heyday from about A.D. 250 to 900, when the civilization mysteriously collapsed.

(Read about the watery graves of the Maya in National Geographic magazine.)

Myth and Reality

Archaeologists excavating the temples and pyramids in the village of Tahtzibichen, in Mérida, the capital of Yucatán state, said the oldest item they found was a 1,900-year-old vessel. Other uncovered earthenware and sculptures dated to A.D. 750 to 850.

"There are stones, huge columns, and sculptures of priests in the caves," said de Anda, whose team has been working on the Yucatán Peninsula for six months.

"There are also human remains and ceramics," he said.

Researchers said the ancient legend—described in part in the sacred book Popul Vuh—tells of a tortuous journey through oozing blood, bats, and spiders, that souls had to make in order to reach Xibalba, the underworld.

"Caves are natural portals to other realms, which could have inspired the Mayan myth. They are related to darkness, to fright, and to monsters," de Anda said, adding that this does not contradict the theory that the myth inspired the temples.

William Saturno, a Maya expert at Boston University, believes the maze of temples was built after the story.

"I'm sure the myths came first, and the caves reaffirmed the broad time-and-space myths of the Mayans," he said.

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« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2008, 01:10:45 am »

Underworld Entrances

Saturno said the discovery of the temples underwater indicates the significant effort the Maya put into creating these portals.

In addition to plunging deep into the forest to reach the cave openings, Maya builders would have had to hold their breath and dive underwater to build some of the shrines and pyramids.

Other Maya underworld entrances have been discovered in jungles and aboveground caves in northern Guatemala Belize.

"They believed in a reality with many layers," Saturno said of the Maya. "The portal between life and where the dead go was important to them."
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« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2008, 01:13:34 am »



Archaeologists Victoria Rojas (front) and Lara Hindersten (back) work at a site in the village of Tahtzibichen, in Mérida, the capital of Mexico's Yucatán state, on April 12, 2008.

Mexican archaeologists announced in August the discovery of a maze of stone temples in underground caves, some submerged in water and containing human bones.

Ancient Mayas likely considered the construction a portal for dead souls to pass into the underworld, scholars say.

Photograph by Tammara Thomsen/HO/Reuters




http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080822-maya-maze.html
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