Juxtlahuaca is a cave and

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

in the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate en ...

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

containing

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

s linked to the

Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that ...

motifs and iconography. Along with the nearby

Oxtotitlán Oxtotitlán is a natural rock shelter and archaeological site in Chilapa de Álvarez, Mexican state of Guerrero that contains murals linked to the Olmec motifs and iconography. Along with the nearby Juxtlahuaca cave, the Oxtotitlán rock pa ...

cave, Juxtlahuaca walls contain the earliest sophisticated painted art known in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Wit ...

, and only known example of non-

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

deep

cave art In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 ye ...

in Mesoamerica.

The cave

The Juxtlahuaca site is located some 45 km southeast of the state capital

Chilpancingo Chilpancingo de los Bravo (commonly shortened to Chilpancingo; ; Nahuatl: Chilpantsinko) is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Guerrero, Mexico. In 2010 it had a population of 187,251 people. The municipality has an area of in ...

in what is now a National Park. The entire cave system is slightly over 5 km. The caves, also called Grutas de Juxtlahuaca ("Grottos of Juxtlahuaca"), are a favorite destination of

spelunkers Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is ...

. The caves are open to the public, but a local guide is required. The site's paintings have been estimated to be over a kilometre down a long cavern: descent times are roughly two hours and some passages are partially filled with water.

The paintings

The most well-known of the cave art is Painting 1, which features a large bearded man with a black cloak, a striped tunic, and an elaborate headpiece. The arms and legs are covered with

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

fur, and a small jaguar tail is even visible dangling down. The man is brandishing a

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mar ...

at a much smaller figure crouched to his side and is carrying a long snake or snakelike object. This 2 meter (6 foot) tall painting is one of the rare Olmec-style portrayals of human-on-human dominance, which some researchers interpret as a scene of

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...

. Also of note in Juxtlahuaca is a painting of a red Feathered Serpent with green plumes, near a red jaguar whose large ears and eyes give it a youthful cast. A design that has provisionally been interpreted as a temple was found on a stalagmite. The cave paintings have been known since at least the 1920s, but were first professionally documented in the early 1960s by Gillett Griffin of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and Carlo T. E. Gay, an Italian businessman. Archaeologist Michael D. Coe has estimated that the paintings "might probably be Early Preclassic (1200-900 BC, uncalibrated)" in date. Juxtalhuaca is, so far as is known, unassociated with any large town of that period. It is also not known how Olmec-influenced art came to be painted hundreds of kilometres (or miles) from the Olmec heartland. Caves are prominent on many Olmec-style monuments: several Olmec "

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...

s" depict priests or rulers emerging from caves, and monuments and reliefs at the archaeological site of Chalcatzingo, to the north of Juxtlahuaca, also feature cave motifs.

Other artifacts

A dozen skeletons have been found in the so-called Hall of the Dead, located midway between the entrance and the paintings. From their positions, some extended and some in a fetal position, and their condition, covered with a stalactite crust, the skeletons are assumed to be ancient interments. Some have been partially buried as a result of a cave-in.Coe (1968), p. 99. Just before the paintings, a 250-foot (80 m) artificial canal was cut into the red clay floor of the cave. The purpose of this canal is not known.

Notes

References

* Coe, Michael D. (1968) ''America's First Civilization'', American Heritage Publishing, New York. *Coe, Michael D. (2002); ''Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs'' London: Thames and Hudson. *Coe, Michael D. (2005);
Image of an Olmec ruler at Juxtlahuaca, Mexico
, ''Antiquity'' Vol 79 No 305, September 2005. *Diehl, Richard A. (2004) ''The Olmecs: America's First Civilization'', Thames & Hudson, London. *Griffin, Gillett G. (1978)
Cresterías of Palenque
, Third Palenque Round Table, eds. Robertson, Merle Greene; Jeffers, Donnan Call. *Grove, David C. (2000) "Caves of Guerrero (Guerrero, Mexico)", in ''Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: an Encyclopedia'', ed. Evans, Susan; Routledge. *Lachniet, Matt
Slide show on Juxtlahuaca cave
University of Nevada - Las Vegas, accessed February 2007. *Stone, Andrea (1997
"Regional Variation in Maya Cave Art"
''Journal of Cave and Karst Studies'', April 1997, p. 33-42. {{coord, 17, 26, 21.36, N, 99, 9, 34.03, W, display=title Mesoamerican sites Cave sites in Mesoamerican archaeology Olmec sites Caves of Mexico Wild caves Archaeological sites in Guerrero Landforms of Guerrero

The cave

The paintings

Other artifacts

See also

Notes

References