Maya, Ritual, Caves (Other Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only Melanie Saldana. James Brady. Robert Schmittner. Cristina Verdugo. Guillermo De Anda Alaniz.

With the discovery of passages sealed behind a blockage in 1959, Balankanche became the preeminent cave in Maya archaeology. Because so many of the intact vessels were incense burners and because of the Maya ceremony recorded as part of the investigation, Balankanche’s ritual function was never questioned even though at that time most caves were thought to be habitational. E. Wyllys Andrews IV’s monograph on the cave has remained one of the field’s best reports. In the summer of 2017, the Gran...