By Miguel Angel Gutierrez
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican archaeologists havediscovered a maze of stone temples in underground caves, somesubmerged in water and containing human bones, which ancientMayans believed was a portal where dead souls entered theunderworld.
Clad in scuba gear and edging through narrow tunnels,researchers discovered the stone ruins of eleven sacred templesand what could be the remains of human sacrifices at the sitein the Yucatan Peninsula.
Achaeologists say Mayans believed the underground complexof water-filled caves leading into dry chambers -- including anunderground road stretching some 330 feet -- was the path to amythical underworld, known as Xibalba.
According to an ancient Mayan scripture, the Popol Vuh, theroute was filled with obstacles, including rivers filled withscorpions, blood and pus and houses shrouded in darkness orswarming with shrieking bats, Guillermo de Anda, one of thelead investigators at the site, said on Thursday.
The souls of the dead followed a mythical dog who could seeat night, de Anda said.
Excavations over the past five months in the Yucatan cavesrevealed stone carvings and pottery left for the dead.
"They believed that this place was the entrance to Xibalba.That is why we have found the offerings there," de Anda said.
The Mayans built soaring pyramids and elaborate palaces inCentral America and southern Mexico before mysteriouslyabandoning their cities around 900 A.D.
They described the torturous journey to Xibalba in thePopul Vuh sacred text, originally written in hieroglyphicscript on long scrolls and later transcribed by Spanishconquerors.
"It is very likely this area was protected as a sacreddepository for the dead or for the passage of their souls,"said de Anda, whose team has found ceramic offerings along withbones in some temples.
Different Mayan groups who inhabited southern Mexico andnorthern Guatemala and Belize had their own entrances to theunderworld which archaeologists have discovered at other sites,almost always in cave systems buried deep in the jungle.
In the Yucatan site they have found one 1,900-year-oldceramic vase, but most of the artefacts date back to between700 and 850 A.D.
"These sacred tunnels and caves were natural temples andannexes to temples on the surface," said de Anda.
(Writing by Mica Rosenberg; editing by Todd Eastham)
