The Jolja’ Cave Project

Description of Jolja’ Cave #1

As noted above, Jolja’ Cave #1 is situated on a white limestone cliff at the headwaters of the Ixtelja River. In general, the cave runs from north to south, and contains a spacious, rectangular shaped passage about 200 m long, 4-25 m wide and 1-20 m high (Halperin 2001). A large percentage of the cave floor is covered with limestone breakdown that ranges between 5 cm-2 m in diameter. The cave also contains 4 small chambers.

The entrance to Cave #1 can be accessed by a steep climb up the cliff from the river gorge or by a narrow ledge leading along the cliff from Cave #2.  The floor of the cave entrance contains hundreds of freshwater snail shells (Pachychilus sp.), known locally as puy. The appearance of Pachychilus shells in Classic period Maya caves is not uncommon, and may signify the remains of an offering or ritual feast (Halperin 2000).

The wall and gate constructed by the Joloniel community across the mouth of Cave #1 is located 7.4 m in from the cliff edge. Along the east wall of the cave opening, the community constructed a long concrete bench for ritual participants. Large breakdown boulders line the western side of the cave entrance. On the western wall is the first painting of the cave (Group 1).

The Group 2 paintings are located high up on a south wall about 50 m inside the cave. This area is faintly lit by diffused sunlight. Because of the angle of the cave opening, a ray of sunlight falls on the paintings and dramatically highlights them. Below the paintings is a narrow vertical passageway leading to a small chamber (Chamber 1) (Figure 4, shown above). A few feet to the east of the passageway opening is a foot wide shaft that looks down into Chamber 1 at an angle. Despite this opening, an artificial light source is required in the chamber. The bottom of the chamber floor is less than 2 square m but the sloping sides of the chamber provide additional room for sitting and standing. The chamber contains three modern wooden crosses before which the elders from Joloniel perform Day of the Cross and rain ceremonies (Figure 5, shown below). As discussed above, there are a number of stories about the Cerro Norte Cave in which it was subjected to acts of desecration. The conclusion of some of these stories is an episode in which Don Juan vacated the Cerro Norte Cave and journeyed across the Tulijá Valley to take up permanent residence at Jolja’. In these stories, he also brought with him a host of animals to live in the cave with him. Felipe Pérez Montejo (personal communication 2001) indicated that the oldest cross in Chamber 1 of Jolja’ Cave #1 was erected by the tatuches after Don Juan moved to Jolja’.

The second chamber of the cave is located approximately 125 m down the main cave passageway from the cave mouth. Chamber 2 is entered from the western side of the passage and it is approximately 8×4 m in size. Its floor is devoid of breakdown except for small rocks found at the very constricted end at the back.

Approximately 18 m past the beginning of the dark zone is a looter’s pit that contains a large number of pottery sherds. It was this looting that motivated the Joloniel community to install the wall and gate. Chamber 3 is located on the east side of the main cave passage and adjacent to the looter’s pit. The floor of this 4×6 m space is covered with breakdown rocks, and it slopes downward to the east. Although the chamber has no passageways, the local belief is that it leads through the mountain to a cave near the town of Tila (Domingo Pérez Montejo, personal communication 2001). The Ch’ol Maya also believe that Jolja’ is connected by an underground passage to the Cerro Norte Cave. The belief that caves are interconnected is prevalent in Maya culture. For example, while investigating Toniná in the Ocosingo Valley, Stephens (1841:260) found a collapsed building that the locals believed to be a cave. He was told that this "cave" led all the way to Palenque.

One hundred and sixty-five meters into Cave #1, the main passageway constricts to a small opening 1 m high and 4 m wide. This constriction then opens again into the last 35 m of passage which contains the remaining cave paintings along its western wall (Figure 6). Half way between the constricted entrance and the first painting is a broken speleothem and a cylinder-shaped limestone block that shows clear evidence of human modification. Although they are now nestled under a groove in the wall, they were recently placed there by a looter who had moved them from their original location near Group 3 (Domingo Pérez Montejo, personal communication 2001).

The only active cave formations found in Cave #1 are located at the very end of the cave passage. The floor of this area is dominated by a large, oval flowstone formation in the form of a small hill. On and around this slippery formation are about 50 small stalagmites (approximately 5-15 cm in height and less than 10 cm in width) and two large columns. The ceiling above is covered with hundreds of small soda straws. The south and west walls are covered in flowstone, and at the bottom of the southwestern wall is a small crawl space. Immediately in front of this space is largest column (about 0.8 m in diameter). The floor of the crawl space contains a tiny pool of water and broken speleothems (dripwater formations). The column and the crawl space are the focus of the contemporary petitions for rain. The second column is to the right of this area, adjacent to Group 7.

The majority of the stalagmites in this area have been sawed off or intentionally cracked, and both columns have pieces of stalagmites at their bases. The Ch’ol Maya remove speleothems from this cave and others in the region to use in their rain ceremonies. The cuts on a number of the stalagmites, however, suggest that some were modified in antiquity. The pre-Columbian Maya are also known to have removed speleothems from their ritual caves.

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