HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT MAYA IN THE ...

8Caves are also known to share an opposite relationship with the mountain. Forexample, caves may naturally occur within close proximity to mountains or othermountainous features. Thus, these motifs are iconographic representations of the naturalenvironment that surrounded the Maya. According to Stone (1995:34), “mountain-topsand caves constitute the most important classes of topographic shrines in Mesoamerica.”The mountain is usually associated with maize, whereas the cave represents the sourceof water that must sustain this crucial crop (Bassie-Sweet 1991).Cosmology and religionMaya cosmology and religion are also bound to the sacredness of the cave, as thePopol Vuh will attest. In the creation story, the Hero Twins, Hunahpuh and Xbalanque,must avenge their father’s death by descending into the dark recesses of the Mayaunderworld, or Xibalba. After their descent into the inner depths of Xibalba, the twinsundergo a number of tests and outwit the lords of the underworld. Upon their return tothe surface, the Hero Twins are transformed into the sun and moon. The ancient Mayabelieved that the sun journeyed through a cave at night in order to rise once again on theeastern horizon. They regarded the underworld as a dark and fearful place where thegods of death and pestilence resided; however, it also represents a crucial metaphysicallandscape in the creation story of the ancient Maya. Despite the negative connotationsof Xibalba and the cave, the ancient Maya strongly revered and respected this sacredspace. This is evident in the cultural material and artificial modifications that indicatepurposeful cave use by the Maya.