'Gateway to the underworld': Archeologists and filmmakers explore underwater labyrinths to discover

[Viva_La_Revolution]

'Gateway to the underworld': Archeologists and filmmakers explore underwater labyrinths to discover treasure trove of artifacts including 10,000-year-old human remains

German filmmakers are exploring caves in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to document the one-of-kind wonders held there
Already, they have found 10,000-year-old human remains and bones from a number of extinct animals
Crews dive below 300 feet and navigate hundreds of miles of meandering tunnels
The ancient Mayans referred to the caves as the gateways to their underworld


more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2241967/Treasure-trove-artifacts-including-10-000-year-old-human-remains-discovered-Mexicos-Yucatan-Peninsula.html#ixzz2E64nhebJ

[Judi Lynn]

1. This is astonishing. Mind-blowing images. One's imagination could run away after reading this.

A claustrophobic person just couldn't survive any part of this.

There's got to be a way someone could figure out how to safely get a look through all the tunnels, in time. Tiny robotic submarines?

Hope if anyone hears more about this place, and new information, he/she will be sure to share that with us, now that we've learned this much!

Unbelieable. Thanks.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Archaeologists find Maya ceramics and mural paintings in three underwater caves in Mexico

December 8, 2012
Archaeologists find Maya ceramics and mural paintings in three underwater caves in Mexico

MEXICO CITY.- Underwater archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH – Conaculta), recently explored three spaces, all abundant with Mayan culture materials: two semidry caves in Campeche and a cenote [A water-filled limestone sink hole] in Yucatan. The cenote stands out since it contains particularly stylish ceramic that is calculated to have been elaborated about 2,300 years ago. This is unique in its type since it’s the only one that has been found in a cenote.

To Helena Barba Meinecke, responsible for all the underwater archaeology of the Yucatan peninsula, the detailed registry of the caves and the cenote, as well as the archaeological elements found in them, confirm the speculation that these places were used for rituals in the pre Hispanic era.

Cenote San Manuel
The distinct characteristics of the pieces, located in the cenote San Miguel, make them stand out among the other discoveries. Access to this 20 meter (65.61 feet) deep body of water, is through the town well by rappel.

The divers must not be in the water longer than 20 minutes, which is why a change of divers was required. At least six hours of meticulous planning was needed to retrieve two Mayan pots, possibly dating back to 300 AD or 200 AD (during the Late Postclassic period). The cenote has an entry of about a meter in diameter.

More:
http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=59414

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. thanks Judy Lynn!

[Sunlei]

4. so cool, and the blue holes also under water now really shows how the seas have risen

Wish they would do more archeology studies in the bering land bridge area. Fishing boats there net up thousands of mammoth bones.

[a la izquierda]

5. I got to explore a dry cave...

in the Yucatán once. It was wild...and creepy.