Mexican archaeologists find fossils and Mayan relics in world's largest underwater cave

Two networks of caves in the Yucatan peninsula found to be connected

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  Divers from the Great Mayan Aquifer project exploring the Sac Actun underwater cave system where Mayan and Pleistocene bones and cultural artifacts have been found submerged, near Tulum. Jan Arild Aaserud/Great Mayan Aquifer Project-INAH via AP

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  A piece of a broken mask on the cave floor inside the Sac Actun underwater cave system. Mexican experts said the recently mapped Sac Actun cave system "is probably the most important underwater archaeological site in the world." Great Mayan Aquifer Project-INAH via AP

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  The Sac Actun underwater cave system is of immense cultural and scientific interest but is threatened by pollution. Great Mayan Aquifer Project-INAH via AP

Archaeologists who have been exploring the world's largest underwater cave — recently discovered in Mexico — presented their findings on Monday, including fossils of giant sloths and an elaborate shrine to the Mayan god of commerce.

Researchers discovered last month that two large networks of underwater caves in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, the Sac Actun and Dos Ojos networks, are in fact connected, forming the largest such structure on Earth.

Diving with scuba gear, they have been exploring the ancient relics left in the caves over the millennia in a project sponsored by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (Inah).

Researchers believe the water level in the caves has fluctuated over time, and that they were a source of water in times of severe drought — a sometimes perilous one.

Some of the animals and humans who ventured inside never made it out alive. Today, there remains are a treasure trove for scientists, enabling them to piece together bits of the cave’s history dating  back to the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).

The animal remains include gomphotheres  – an extinct elephant-like animal – as well as giant sloths and bears, archaeologists told a press conference.

Then there are the artefacts left inside by humans: burnt human bones, ceramics, wall etchings and more.

“It is very unlikely that there is another site in the world with these characteristics. There is an impressive amount of archaeological artefacts inside, and the level of preservation is also impressive,” said Guillermo de Anda, an underwater archaeologist.

The relics include a shrine to the Mayan god of war and commerce, with a staircase accessed through a sinkhole in the middle of the jungle.

Many other of the hundreds of sinkholes that connect to the cave have elaborate signs of ritual activity around them, archaeologists said.

The ancient Mayans viewed caves, “and especially ones that led to water, as extremely sacred places”, the Inah said.