Altar Cave Ritual and Communion Sites: Evaluating a Connection Between Light and Dark Zones.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in MesoAmerican Sacred Landscapes: A Multidisciplinary Assessment" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ritual cave use is a popular subject in Maya archaeology, but whether proximate sites had linked use is unknown. Recent discoveries in Monkey Bay National Park- a protected area situated in the Maya Forest Corridor in central Belize- have led to new evidence of various ritual activities that took place in and around cave sites during the Late Classic Period. A study at Altar Cave done in 2023 documented vast differences in artifact assemblages, visibility, and accessibility between light and dark zones. These variations in artifacts, especially faunal remains in the light zone and ceramic assemblages documented in the dark zone, may indicate specific ritual designations: Shamans may have performed private rituals in the dark zone, whereas more public events could have taken place in the light zone. While that analysis expands on our knowledge of cave use during the Late Classic Period and the activities that took place in public and private communions, our goal is to determine whether the usage was linked. We will map two chambers in Altar Cave and examine whether a connection can be established. This effort also could provide valuable information on how to protect the archaeology from natural or manmade forms of destruction.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• The Subterranean in MesoAmerican Sacred Landscapes: A Multidisciplinary Assessment

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52907