What an amazing experience we had today! We explored the ActunTunichi Muknal, ATM caves. These caves are the most sacred and ceremonialo caves ever found. This cave has one entrance in and out, which makes for a dark environment. For our safety, we wore head gear and head lights to see where we were going. To enter the cave we had to swim into the mouth which led us to lots of twists, turns, ups, and downs in ankle to waist deep water. Once we entered the ceremonial artifact areas, we had to take our shoes off and walk the cave in our socks. (OUCH!!!) The pain was definelty worth going through once we arrived the artifact areas. Our tour guide, Martin, was extremly informative of the history of the cave. He was an AWESOME story teller, taking us back into time by having us close our eyes, turn off our head lights, and hold each other by the shoulder as we took our journey through time. During this moment, Martin played music with the stalagmites that had formed in the cave. It was very peaceful and beautiful sounding. He was able to make this music because the stalagmites are filled with water and when he tapped on them they made a sound, very similar to playing music from glasses of water.
Check out these pictures of the various artifacts that are located in this cave!
The entrance to the ATM cave.
Pottery used in sacrificial ceremonies.
The skull of a ruler. It is easy to tell that this individual was a ruler because his forehead had been flattened. Mayan rulers used to bind the heads of their infants to make their forehead flat.
The remains of a yound female.
You don't sound like a chicken to me.....what about the people who couldn't swim, what did they do? most interesting
ReplyDeleteThe people that couldn't swim sat on the rocks away from the waterfall to enjoy the coolness of the breeze coming from the water and to check out the brave souls who took the leap of faith!
DeleteIf the rulers where so special, why did they have to flatten their heads? lindsey
ReplyDeleteDid your feet bleed when you walked over the rocks? olivia
Great question Lindsey! The rulers flatened their heads so they can be distinguished from everyone else. I doesn't sound like something that I would want to have done to me, but it is part of the Mayan culture. Seems strange to us doesn't it?
DeleteFor your question Olivia, no, I didn't bleed when going through the rocks because we had our shoes on to protect us while walking in the rough areas of the cave. When we had to take our shoes off the rocks were much smoother because they were located in the top areas of the cave. As the water in the cave carved through the rocks over time, it helped to smooth the upper layer of rocks in the cave, making it much easier to walk in without shoes.
You both have excellent questions and great insight to what I am experiencing. I have tons of other pictures that I will show you when I get back. I can't put them all on the blog because it takes so long to upload.
Love you both and have a wonderful week!