Aktun Tunichil Muknal Cave is located in the jungles of Belize. For several centuries, the Maya Indians came here to perform rituals - they brought human sacrifices to their bloodthirsty gods. An unusual dungeon was found in 1996. From this point on, American archaeologists have been trying to understand why the Indians chose such an inaccessible place for their rituals. The fact is that to get to the "main hall" you need to walk or swim several meters up to your neck in water. The path to the depths of the pitch darkness took 1.5-2 hours.
Yes, not only the pyramids served as a cult place. From the end of the 19th century, archaeologists began to pay attention to the caves, in which they found human skeletons, shards of clay jugs, and wall paintings. The pyramid made it possible to reach out to heaven and deliver a message to the sun god. What gods nest underground?
Aktun was visited by priests of several settlements. The number of nearby villages varied from 50 thousand to 180 thousand people. At the entrance, they found several pots, perforated in a special way, mountains of snail shells. A quarter of a mile away, in the Central Hall of the cave, the Maya left a treasure for scientists: more than 1000 household items, ritual knives, 14 human skeletons, including parts of the bodies of babies and children. The best preserved remains of an unknown teenage girl, who was nicknamed "The Crystal Maiden", because the skull and some bones shine with a crystal shine.
Aktun Cave, Belize.
The main explorer of a mysterious cave in Belize, American scientist Holly Moyes, wrote a book in which she came to the conclusion that the Maya believed that this dungeon was the entrance to the world of the dead, to the eerie Xibalba. The underworld was considered a place of terrible suffering, and, at the same time, not a single living creature could exist without the world of the dead. The Maya believed that the path to eternal rest is full of traps and dangers, terrible and insidious trials, but only in this way the soul can free itself from the body.
The ancient Indians believed that the demons of disease creep out into the light from the caves. It was possible to reach Xibalba only by passing three underground rivers: a river with scorpions, a bloody river and a river filled with pus. Perhaps sacrifices were made to fill the cave reservoirs with blood?
Such ideas about the world are not uncommon: the caves attract with their mystery and inaccessibility. However, the Maya were willing to risk their lives to get to the lower halls.
Actun Tunichil Muknal. Belize.
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Archaeologists were struck by the discovery: radiocarbon analysis of the found objects and bones showed that the Indians visited the cave from 250 to the 9th century, but all this time no one dared to study the interior of the cave. Only by the 8th century did someone venture into the center and further, and, then, it became a permanent phenomenon. But, after the 9th century, all sacrifices abruptly stopped, Aktun was abandoned, the entrance began to overgrow with vines and disappeared from sight. Moreover, the tribes left their homes. Scientists are still racking their brains as to what caused this phenomenon: drought, famine, or some other cataclysm.
Who knows, maybe an ancient evil still lives in the prayed cave of Aktun-Tunichil-Muknal, which is just waiting to be found.