A team of research scientists discovered an 8000 year old skeleton in a threatened Mexican cave.
A prehistoric human skeleton was discovered by cave-diving archaeologists on Mexico’s Caribbean Coast. The structure was found covered in sediments, a half kilometre inside the cave, 8 metres underwater.
The researchers believe that the skeleton was washed off in the cave 8,000 years ago by the rising sea levels in the last ice age.
Interestingly, the Mexican government plans to build a high-speed tourist train through that jungle. Hence, this threatens the stability of the cave.
Is this an isolated discovery?
Archaeologists claim that some of the oldest human remains in North America have been religiously found in the narrow, cut-off caves called “cenotes.” The Mexican Caribbean Coast is famous for many such discoveries in the past.
This skeleton was discovered quite deep inside the cave, which can be made possible only through strong water waves. The skull was covered in the sediments while the rest of the structure was 8 metres underwater. The researchers claim that humans died around the last ice age 8,000 years ago.
Though, without carbon microscopy, it is hard to tell whether the human died in the cave or his body got washed off by the strong water currents.
What will happen to the skeleton now?
Del Rio, the researcher who has worked at the National Institute of Anthropology and History, has notified the institute about his discovery. However, it is not clear whether the institute plans to investigate the site or not.
However, the discovery site has been registered and will be visited by the institute’s Quintana Roo state branch of the Holocene Archaeology Project. The researcher refused to reveal the exact location of the cave, worrying that it might attract thieves and vandalizers.
But he stressed that the cave was threatened by the Mexican government’s Maya Train Project as the authorities have cut down a large portion of the jungle to lay train tracks. This might contaminate the cave, resulting in dramatically low chances of discovering the skeletal remains for further investigations.
Anthropology Research Required in such Discoveries
Whenever such skeletal remains are found, the authorities call over a team of specialists to handle and investigate them. If proven authentic, these sites can be labelled as tourist spots, attracting thousands of tourists from around the world.
Del Rio claims that there is a lot of research that needs to be done on the skeleton before any affirmative statements can be made. These studies will include dating, photographic studies, carbon studies, and certain sample collections.
Dei Rio has made similar discoveries in the past since he has been exploring the region for the past three decades. Interestingly, in 2022, he participated in the discovery and cataloguing of the remains of a woman known as The Woman of Naharon, who died around the same time or perhaps earlier than Naia.
Naia was a prehistoric woman who lived approximately 13,000 years ago, and her almost complete skeleton was discovered in a nearby cave system in 2007.
Controversies Surrounding the Maya Train Project
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is willing to finish the highly controversial Maya Train Project as soon as possible. In spite of the objections raised by many eminent cave divers, lawyers, environmentalists, archaeologists, experts, and researchers, the authorities are in a haste to complete the project.
This will take away the golden opportunities to study the ancient remains because of the heavy and high-speed rail network. The fragile limestone caves are flooded, twisty, and narrow all around the year, making it extremely dangerous and difficult to explore them for more such remains.
The NGOs claim that many caves have already been damaged because of the construction above them. The 950 mile Maya Train line is meant to run in a rough loop around the Yucatan Peninsula, connecting beach resorts and archaeological sites.
The most controversial stretch cuts a more than 68-mile swath through the jungle between the resorts of Cancun and Tulum.
The environmentalists claim that the lines should be built on the already impacted coastal highway rather than damage the jungles for it. But the President refused to do so because of the high cost and low return concerns. Moreover, the hotel owners voiced their concerns about the project route as well.
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