By plunging into a submerged passage from the Tlayócoc cave, in Mexico, two explorers made an unexpected discovery. A secret room containing mysterious objects, such as engraved shell bracelets, a giant snail shell and black stone discs, which have been hid for centuries. This archaeological treasure could deliver precious information on a disappeared ethnic group recounts the online media Popular Mechanics.
The artefacts found would belong to the Tlacotepehuas, an unknown civilization, now extinguished. Found on stalagmites, the shell bracelets are covered with symbols and anthropomorphic figures. According to a press release from the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), they were submitted there as offerings. Cuauhtémoc Reyes Alvarez, archaeologist of the INAH, explains: “It is possible that the symbols and representations of the characters on the bracelets are linked to the prehispanic cosmogony concerning creation and fertility.”
According to Archaeologists from INAH, the artefacts date from the postclassical period between 950 and 1521 after J.-C., when the region was populated by the Tlacotepehuas. The room where they were found would have been voluntarily sealed, which reinforces the symbolic importance of the place. The context allows specialists to imagine that these caves were seen as portals to the beyond.
The stalagmites themselves would have been cut to match certain ritual requirements. This care in the development of the place shows the spiritual importance it represented for the ancient peoples of the region.
A dive into a swallowed world
As part of a mapping mission, Yekaterina Katiya Pavlova went to the Tlayócoc cave. Accompanied by Adrián Beltrán Dimas, a local guide, she decided to explore a submerged passage still not listed. Their perseverance made it possible to discover a secret room housing fourteen objects in total.
Miguel Perez, archaeologist of the Inah, returns to the importance of such a discovery: “(Elle) is of great importance because, thanks to the study of the contextual relationships of the parts of the cave, we can interpret the symbolic notions, the cultural aspects, the manufacture and even the trade in order to characterize the prehispanic societies installed in the Sierra de Guerrero.” The discoveries made in the Tlayócoc cave also echo those from other sites in the region like that of El Infiernillo.
The hostile environment of Sierra de Guerrero, perched at more than 2,390 meters above sea level, would have pushed these old populations to migrate to lower and more welcoming areas. The bracelets in engraved snails could be the last witnesses of a people whose we still do not know almost everything.
