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Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#61

Post by okmokmz »

eps wrote: post #7
yread wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cave exploration is sometimes like that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAY-t32vyds

Yeah, I've seen this one. This is an "alternative entrance" to a decently-sized cave with a normal access elsewhere off camera. That's not to say there aren't examples of some truly disturbing spelunking - https://i.imgur.com/BkmpH9v.jpg

I saw that picture and read up more on the story a while back... absolutely horrifying situation. Stuck upside down underground for hours, unable to move or escape even though there are others right behind you that you can communicate with until you eventually die. Somewhat unrelated, but that is part of what made me decide to not further pursue my cave diving certification

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#62

Post by cr1895 »

toyg wrote: post #52

Something is weird. > After its initial discovery by farmers in 1966, Balamku was visited by archaeologist Víctor Segovia Pinto Segovia Pinto reportedly died in 1955, according to this source: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=es&tl=en&u=htt... 1955 was 11 years before the reported discovery. Either there is a typo somewhere, or Pinto was not the original discoverer. Pinto was a bit of a celeb at the time…

Here is a publication he supposedly authored in 1981:

https://books.google.nl/books?id=bHcgCwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA198&ots=...

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#63

Post by stronglikedan »

plink wrote: post #57
mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m going to have nightmares after seeing that gif. How can these people be ok with that?

Also, does the notion of eventually needing to turn around never stymie them?

That's why the send the cameraman first.

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#64

Post by asveikau »

toyg wrote: post #52

Something is weird. > After its initial discovery by farmers in 1966, Balamku was visited by archaeologist Víctor Segovia Pinto Segovia Pinto reportedly died in 1955, according to this source: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=es&tl=en&u=htt... 1955 was 11 years before the reported discovery. Either there is a typo somewhere, or Pinto was not the original discoverer. Pinto was a bit of a celeb at the time…

Probably a bad source or typo. This one, from a university, says he died in '95 on a specific day and place. https://revistas-filologicas.unam.mx/estudios-cultura-maya/i...

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#65

Post by mr_overalls »

eps wrote: post #4

"Explorers needed to crawl for hours just to reach first of seven offering chambers"... followed by a shot of one of them, flat of his stomach, clawing at the surface and just barely squeezing through, head turned sideways. I am not a claustrofobic person, but this is... damn... this feels suicidal. Makes you realize that some people are wired way differently than others. Edit - https://imgur.com/EHrwHs3.jpg

An experienced caver buddy of of mine tells stories about doing chest compressions to get through really small spaces. You know, because the hole is too small for you to pass through with lungs full of air. So you exhale it all and hope there's space ahead for you to breath in again.

No thanks, man. I'll stick with kayaking.

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#66

Post by ulisesrmzroche »

zimablue wrote: post #34
your-nanny wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clarify what you mean and I might answer the question.

Your previous answer seems to presume that there are groups of people to whom other groups of people are ancestors, and the first have special rights over anything that happens to the artifacts/remains of the second, I was trying to break down how you think about that. Eg. how do you identify the first and second groups unambiguously, and what sort of rights and limits apply.

What’s so puzzling? It’s a Mayan site so it belongs to the Mayans. They have full rights, even if that means preventing the study of it to non-Mayan archeologists. Simple.

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#67

Post by elpakal »

peterlk wrote: post #59
elpakal wrote: post #55

I was born and lived for some time in the nearby state of Chiapas. Currently a coder working in a big city, fighting traffic and pollution every day, away from wife and kids, worrying about production issues, health, etc. When I see articles about discoveries like this it always brings me back to my childhood days driving around the Palenque ruins, seeing the miles and miles of hills which were obviously ruins that h…

"... We need wilderness preserved--as much of it as is still left, and as many kinds--because it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed. The reminder and the reassurance that it is still there is good for our spiritual health even if we never once in ten years set foot in it. It is good for us when we are young, because of the incomparable sanity it can bring briefly, as vacation and res…

love it

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#68

Post by Razengan »

eps wrote: post #4

"Explorers needed to crawl for hours just to reach first of seven offering chambers"... followed by a shot of one of them, flat of his stomach, clawing at the surface and just barely squeezing through, head turned sideways. I am not a claustrofobic person, but this is... damn... this feels suicidal. Makes you realize that some people are wired way differently than others. Edit - https://imgur.com/EHrwHs3.jpg

Should they not be using remote-controlled drones first and 3D-map the tunnels first before going in with humans?

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#69

Post by paulddraper »

Razengan wrote: post #68
eps wrote: post #4

"Explorers needed to crawl for hours just to reach first of seven offering chambers"... followed by a shot of one of them, flat of his stomach, clawing at the surface and just barely squeezing through, head turned sideways. I am not a claustrofobic person, but this is... damn... this feels suicidal. Makes you realize that some people are wired way differently than others. Edit - https://imgur.com/EHrwHs3.jpg

Should they not be using remote-controlled drones first and 3D-map the tunnels first before going in with humans?

Cool idea, but what drone would you actually be able to use for spelunking?

Re: Maya ritual cave ‘untouched’ for 1k years stuns archaeologists

#70

Post by riffraff »

atwebb wrote: post #38
eps wrote: post #4

"Explorers needed to crawl for hours just to reach first of seven offering chambers"... followed by a shot of one of them, flat of his stomach, clawing at the surface and just barely squeezing through, head turned sideways. I am not a claustrofobic person, but this is... damn... this feels suicidal. Makes you realize that some people are wired way differently than others. Edit - https://imgur.com/EHrwHs3.jpg

Caving can be incredibly fun as well, tight squeezes can come with the territory but there's plenty of horizontal walking/borehole opportunities. It is pretty geographically dependent. This one always gets me a bit: https://gfycat.com/responsibleboweddalmatian-exploration-cav... I'm wondering if there's not a second entrance or something that sumped and connects, in the US some tracks are a mile or so back but severa…

when I was a kid a crawled into half collapsed etruscan tombs often (which in hindsight was not a good idea) and it felt ok but this video gave me instant claustrophobia.

It's incredible that people can do this as a hobby :)

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