Archaeology of the Candelaria Caves

By

Brent Woodfill

The Candelaria cave system lies at the interface of the highland and lowland Maya regions along one of the principal trade routes (both ancient and modern) between the two areas. It is located along a 21 km stretch of the Río Candelaria, consisting in two types—the 4 main riverine caves and the fossilized tunnels in the hills above them.

While the Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey (VUPACS) began an informal study of the Candelaria system in 2001, the 2003 field season marked the beginning of a several-year-long investigation of the caves with help from FAMSI, USAID, FIPA, the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture, Proyecto Cancuen, Idaho State University, the Ahau Foundation, the Peace Corps, Counterpart International, Sank, and the two principal communities around the cave system, Candelaria Campo Santo and Muqb’ilha’.

The cave system was first explored and reported on by Daniel Dreux, and a brief archaeological survey was undertaken by Patricia Carot. Several other explorers have written about the cave system, but before 2003 no comprehensive archaeological survey had been undertaken.

The Candelaria Caves are located in an archaeological region typified by its lack of large-scale ceremonial architecture. In fact, only one small temple has been found at Cancuen, while the other large site in the region, Raxruha Viejo, lacks temples completely. Instead, it appears that they were using the mountain-caves which dot the region as “ready-made” temple pyramids. In Raxruha Viejo, for instance, a large hill in the site core has been fronted by a stepped platform with a row of stelae and altars.

In addition to containing some of the most dramatic hill-caves of the region, the caves are also one of the “birthplaces” of the Pasión-Usumacinta river system, as the Río Candelaria, one of its tributaries, passes through the 4 principal caves. In fact, the river passes in and out of the cave system 7 times, which, if current theories about the validity of applying ethnohistoric documents (in this case, the Popol Vuh) to the Classic Maya would also have been reminiscent of the “Seven Caves, Seven Canyons” of the creation myth.

The caves, in addition to being one of the origins of the major riverine system for the ancient Maya world (if not one of the potential places of origin for humanity), are also located alongside the route that would have taken merchants and travelers between Coban and the Río Pasión, and the high traffic passing by the system also insured its importance. The entire cave system has an incredible amount of ritual evidence spanning the entire Classic Period, which is what I will devote the remainder of the paper to describing.

Public Ritual

A pattern found repeatedly in the cave system consists of a high, brightly-lit natural “stage” above a wide open area which could hold a large audience On the stage is found evidence of public ritual including polychrome pottery and obsidian blades, while there is often terracing in the area below. Occasionally, a “backstage” area contains more evidence of private ritual. In Ventana de Seguridad (the upriver entrance to Verónica), for example, a smaller entrance is located about 30m above the floor of the chamber associated with entrance 1. Along the cliff is a large accumulation of polychrome sherds (some of which have fallen below it), and a small platform without any evidence of ceremonial activity has been built directly in front of it on the same level. In Mico, two different stages one the same high ledge were separated by the Maya, who filled in the spaces between a row of stalagmites. While the smaller space consisted of exclusively public space, the other had several altars and evidence of burning.

This pattern is not only found in the riverine caves but also in the smaller hill-caves, which more directly mimics the appearance and function of the temple-pyramid. In Cueva de los Chinches, for example, almost all of the ceramic evidence, much of it Early Classic polychrome, was found near the two dramatic entrances, while the unlit interior was devoid of archaeological remains, even on a ledge parallel in other ways to Mico.

A variation of this pattern is found in the “minefield” of Cueva Verónica, the downriver entrance of the first cave in the system. A single ledge above the river contains a virtual carpet of ceramics and obsidian blades approximately 20 m wide and 500 m long. While some of it could have fallen from a higher ledge, the vast majority would have been left from apparently private rituals, although on a huge scale. This might be because of the symbolic importance of the cave as the first time that the river emerges from the underworld.

Private Ritual

In smaller, more secluded parts of the cave system there is also evidence of private rituals, caching, and burials. Past the “minefield” of Verónica, the Maya set up a stone path in a shallow part of the riverbed that leads to a large back room which contains evidence of a much different type of ritual—large, burnt, unslipped ollas, at times broken into two or three pieces, a burnt shoe-pot, and a greenstone hacha cached next to a large stalagmitic group.

Located in a fossilized section of the cave approximately 40 meters above the main part of Verónica, we found an undisturbed cache of two complete vessels—an olla and a tinaja, which were “killed” by punching very small holes into the neck or rim of the vessels.

In Entrada del Sol, a cave alongside the upriver entrance to Verónica, is a long, narrow, undisturbed tunnel containing well-defined features, each of which contains a single, burnt and smashed vessel. In 2004, caver Matt Ayres found a small, nearly complete olla containing copal resin, and, in a different part of the cave, we found 3 drilled shell pendants.

In 2003, the Ministry of Culture hired 4 park guards who have been exploring new caves in the system and recording their finds, which include jaguar fangs and an olla filled with human teeth. VUPACS will be spending more time working with them this year to photograph, sample, and analyze their finds.

Regional stuff

To date, about 30 small sites have been found around the cave system, the largest being the site of La Lima, which has been under investigation by VUPACS since 2003. It is directly associated with 2 caves, one of which, Ratón de los Dientes, served at least a minor function as a funerary cave with 2 burials in the dark interior and a large number of human teeth recovered from the entrance.

Although most of the ceramic evidence recovered to date has been Late Classic (although we will be punching into architecture sometime next week), we have found an unused Pachuca obsidian blade buried near one of the corners of the plaza in the principal group at the site, indicating that the site was probably active in the Early Classic (which will probably be supported by more finds this season. At present, the vast majority of evidence dating to the Early Classic in the region comes from the caves, so the presence of occupation from this time period at the site would allow us to begin to fill in the gap from this period.

Although Cancuen-style figurines have been found in the Candelaria cave system, as well as a vessel which originated in Tikal, from the ceramic evidence recovered in the small settlements around the cave system it appears that the area was associated with, if not directly controlled by, Raxruha Viejo for much of its history. Interestingly, there is no evidence of Preclassic use of the cave system to date, although sherds and vessels from this time period are present in other nearby caves, including the La Caoba Vicinity, approximately 25 kilometers to the north. Typical of the rest of the region, all evidence of use stops in the Late Classic, only to resume again as ceremonial centers in the past 30 years for the modern Q’eqchi’ inhabitants.

Conclusions

The Candelaria system is a rare opportunity to see a major ancient sacred site in a nearly pristine condition. While some looting has happened in the system, it is almost exclusively limited to what can be picked up from off of the ground, while many of the vessels from caches that have been taken from the system can be traced to their original location.

Further study is presently underway in the 2004 field season—excavating La Lima and other surrounding sites and several of the caves in order to determine not only what events were occurring in the caves but also who and when through NAA and ceramic analysis. Soil scientist Duncan Cook is joining the team again in May trying to find organic residue inside the caves, which would allow us to increase our corpus of knowledge about Maya ritual.

Alongside the archaeology, the most exciting part of this project is the level of partnership with the local Q’eqchi’ and international development workers. In addition to performing an academic study of the cave system, we are also leaving behind information and products that will help the villagers and help to preserve the cave system. In return, they are sharing with us all of their knowledge of the caves.

Alongside the archaeological study, there are geologists, ecotourism specialists, forestry engineers, and cultural anthropologists, all of whom are doing their part to ensure that the cave system will be preserved for generations to come.