Caves Branch Caves: Archaeological Field Report

Te Tun Cave

Te Tun Cave or the "stone-tree cave" is one of the most splendid rock shelters that we have ever found. Despite its small size, it is important for its unique combination of features, including a natural column, several petroglyphs and one small entrance. Although it is only 2.6 m. wide and less than 3 m. high, Te Tun Cave contains and communicates an important iconographic message.

Concerning the petroglyphs, there are many caves throughout Mesoamerica containing petroglyphs or paintings. Of all the kinds of petroglyphs, those with faces have a clear connection with water. Generally, three carved points form the design, representing the eyes and the mouth. In the Yucatán, many of these faces are associated with the "stair motif" petroglyphs, and in all the examples that I know, the relation with water is totally clear.

In Te Tun Cave we found a stalagmite with petroglyphs on top of the artificially modified entrance (as an altar). All these features contribute to its very special character. The significance of the faces on the stalagmite was not clear until we discovered a natural spring in front of the cave. The faces are the "amulets" that will attract the water. In a dry cave like this, the faces become the idols to whom one asks for water. This data demonstrated that the tradition of carving faces inside caves is not restricted totally to the Northern Lowlands, but has much wider geographic distribution.

One intriguing element of the petroglyphs is not a face but the Quincunx symbol formed by five carved points (four on the corners and one in the center). For several authors (Lamb, 1982:37) the Quincunx (T585a) means be, (road, path), but for other specialists it does not mean road without an affix (Dorie Reents, personal communication, 1995). Others suggest that the Quincunx symbol is related with the idea of center and used as decoration of the elite earflares from Tikal and Caracol (Arlen Chase, personal communication, 1995).

As mentioned, the petroglyphs are carved on a stalagmite column, and some scholars have identified stelae with stalagmites (Bassie 1991). There may be some basis for this, because there are other examples of this relation: Maler describes a carved stalagmite at Yaxchilán, in Chechem Ha Cave (Cayo District, Belize); there is a plain stela made from calcite stone, in Actun Tunichil Muknal (Jaime Awe, personal communication, 1996); there are three stelae, one of them is now in the Department of Archaeology, and Pendergast (1970) described a carved stalagmite in Río Frio Caves (Cayo District, Belize). Finally there is the "Warrior" at the entrance of Loltún Cave (Yucatán), which although not a stela, reunites all the elements of the stela.

So, at Te Tun Cave, we have a cave with petroglyphs related to water; a calcite column with a clear stela parallel; a Quincunx symbol and finally we have a small entrance that was probably artificially modified. To sum up, we can safely postulate that this cave was a place dedicated to water worship or rain petition. Excavations suggested two different uses of the cave. The above mentioned ritual and its use as burial place.

In some way, the stalagmite or calcite column reminds me of the representations at Palenque of the Yaxche, sacred ceiba or earth tree, that emerges from inside the Underworld and grows toward Heaven, connecting the nine levels of the Underworld with our world and the thirteen levels of Heaven. In this small cave at Caves Branch Area we find the clear syntheses of all these elements which we have mentioned above. It is a perfect representation of the Maya world not in movable objects such as pottery, stelae or altars, but within the natural space the cave creates. Of course, these are preliminary hypothesis, and we are open to comments and suggestions.

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