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Belize Cave Holds 226 Teeth From 24 Maya Elites Buried Elsewhere
@NewScientist reported that genomic and radiocarbon analysis linked teeth in Bats’ub cave to 24 individuals whose other remains lay 26.5 km away at Muklebal Tzul. The finds include an ancestor of elite tomb occupants accompanied by jade, cacao seeds and a decorated bowl.
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A cave in Belize holds 226 teeth from at least 24 Maya individuals whose other skeletal remains were interred 26.5 kilometres away at the site of Muklebal Tzul, @NewScientist reported. Researchers led by Esther Brielle at Harvard University generated genomic data from 341 samples representing 107 distinct people and used radiocarbon dating to establish their Classic-period dates between AD 250 and 900.
Twenty-four of the individuals had elements in both locations.
Bats’ub cave contained the teeth arranged around the body of an adult female whose head had been removed. In its place lay part of a vessel holding a single jade bead. Fragments of a cranium and toothless mandibles rested near her pelvis beside an inverted bowl with five cacao seeds and an orange bowl decorated with a mythical hummingbird-serpent figure.
Genomic analysis showed the woman was an ancestor of people buried in elite tombs at Muklebal Tzul. Only individuals from the highest social level at the site contributed teeth to the cave deposit, the study found. The preprint appears on bioRxiv with DOI 10.64898/2026.06.07.724338.
Mirko De Tomassi at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich said the placement may reflect efforts to connect biologically or ideologically with an ancestor to legitimise power. Angelina Locker at Vanderbilt University noted that caves represented the entrance to the underworld, Xibalba, and that teeth were symbolically linked to maize and rebirth.
Asta Rand at Nicolaus Copernicus University observed that teeth endure and carried cultural significance through modification practices.
