Barton Creek Cave is a natural cave in

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, known as both an archaeological site and as a tourist destination. It is located in the upper

Barton Creek Barton Creek is a tributary that feeds the Colorado River as it flows through the Texas Hill Country. The creek passes through some of the more scenic areas in Greater Austin, surrounded in many parts by a greenbelt of protected lands that serve ...

area near San Ignacio in the Cayo District.

Description

Barton Creek Cave is a primarily single-passage resurging stream cave. By 2002 a

cave survey A cave survey is a map of all or part of a cave system, which may be produced to meet differing standards of accuracy depending on the cave conditions and equipment available underground. Cave surveying and cartography, i.e. the creation of an accu ...

had been completed by the Western Belize Regional Cave Project, recording a total of of passages; dye traces at sinking streams above the cave indicated that there could be a further of cave passages beyond the terminal sumps. By 2005 the Xibalba Mapping and Exploration Team had extended the survey to .

Archaeology

Extensive looting of artifacts occurred soon after the cave was first reported, but it remains an important site for archaeologists. Evidence of cave use by the Maya exists on ten ledges within the first kilometer of cave passage. Pottery shards indicate use between the Early Classic (200 to 600 CE) to the Late Classic (600 to 900 CE) periods. The remains of at least 28 humans have been found within the cave.

References

* Larson, David and Eleanor. ''Multiyear Project to Map Caves for the Belize Department of Archaeology'', 2002 NSS Convention * Larson et al. "Report on Multiyear Project to Map and Photograph Caves for the Belize Institute of Archaeology", 14th International Congress of Speleology

External links

* http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V64/v64n3-Abstracts.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20151223084118/http://www.nichbelize.org/ia-archaeological-sites-parks/archaeology-of-barton-creek.html Cayo District Caves of Belize Limestone caves Maya sites in Belize Cave sites in Mesoamerican archaeology {{Belize-geo-stub