Prehistoric mine discovered in flooded cave complex in Mexico


A prehistoric ocher mine was discovered in a flooded cave complex in Mexico.

Underwater archaeologists discovered the mine in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. According to the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH), the ocher mine dates back 10,000 to 12,000 years and is the oldest discovered in the Americas.

The 0.5 mile of ocher mines were found in a 3.73 mile flooded cave complex. The discovery of remnants of human-caused fires, piled up mining rubble, simple stone tools, navigational aids, and excavation sites suggest that humans entered the cave in search of iron-rich red ocher, which the earliest peoples of the Americas appreciated for decoration and rituals.

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Such pigments were used in cave paintings, rock art, burials, and other structures among the earliest peoples around the world.

Diver Christophe Le Maillot documents the site.

Diver Christophe Le Maillot documents the site.
(Photo: Sam Meacham, CINDAQ. AC SAS-INAH)

“The landscape in this cave is remarkably altered, leading us to believe that prehistoric humans extracted tons of ocher from it, perhaps seeing the need to light bonfires to light up their space,” said Fred Devos, Co-Director of Research . Center for the Aquifer System of Quintana Roo, known as CINDAQ, in the statement. Devos and his CINDAQ co-director Sam Meacham first visited the underground system in 2017. The research is published in the journal Science Advances.

No human remains have been found in the mine, although other skeletons have been found in other parts of the cave complex.

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Since skeletal remains were found as “Naia,” a young woman who died 13,000 years ago, in the past 15 years, archaeologists have wondered how they ended up in the then-dry caves. About 8,000 years ago, rising sea levels flooded the caves, known as cenotes, around the Caribbean coast of Tulum.

“While Naia contributed to the understanding of the ancestry, growth, and development of these early Americans, little was known about why she and her contemporaries risked entering the cave maze,” CINDAQ researchers wrote.

“There had been speculation about what would have taken them to such complex and dangerous places to navigate, such as temporary shelter, freshwater or burial of human remains, but none of the previous speculations was well supported by archaeological evidence,” they said. wrote

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“Now for the first time we know why the people of this time would take the enormous risk and effort to explore these treacherous caves,” said CINDAQ’s Meacham. At least one of the reasons, Meacham said, was to prospect and mine red ocher.

Mexico continues to reveal new aspects of its rich history. Experts, for example, recently announced the discovery of the oldest and largest Mayan monument near Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

In a separate project, the capital of a long-lost Mayan kingdom was recently discovered in the backyard of a rancher in Mexico.

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In 2018, an ancient mask depicting a 7th-century Mayan king was discovered in southern Mexico.

Associated Press contributed to this article.

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