Loading…
The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) has documented a cave in Chiapas containing 179 pre-Hispanic artifacts arranged in 13 ritual deposits, shedding light on the Zoom culture’s ceremonial practices. The cave, located near the Arco del Tiempo natural arch in the La Venta River canyon, was discovered by local guide Jairo Díaz Barreiro and reported in January 2026.
A team led by INAH researcher Josuhé Lozada Toledo, including archaeologist-climber Martha Arcelia García Sánchez and speleologist Gabriel Merino Andrade, verified the site between February and June 2026. The cave, named Mundo Zoque, stretches 100 meters and requires a 10-meter rappel descent, which helped preserve it from looting.
The artifacts date to the Late Classic period (600–900 AD) and include incensarios, effigy urns, and bowls decorated with jaguars, owls, and serpents. In Zoom cosmology, the jaguar represents the underworld and darkness, the owl is associated with night and wisdom, and the serpent symbolizes strength and the life-death cycle. Incensarios with ceiba tree spine decorations likely marked a ceremonial route, culminating in a chamber with fine orange pottery. A notable piece is a 32 cm sahumador handle ending in a serpent's head with the quincunce symbol.