New Developments in Mesoamerican Subterranean Archaeology

Subterranean archaeology is an outgrowth of Mesoamerican cave archaeology as the latter has encountered new features, often human constructions, which fall outside of what are normally considered to be caves. The features require the specialized field methodologies first developed by cave archaeology and, thus far, all are considered landmarks in the ancient sacred landscape. As such, their importance derives from their association with the Maya concept of a sacred animate earth. The shift to the term subterranean archaeology serves to emphasize that a great deal more appears to have been occurring below the ground level in ancient times than archaeologists have heretofore appreciated. The expansion of the discipline’s field of vision is in its infancy so it is expected the types of subterranean features will continue to multiply in the future.