Maya Elite Remains Found Buried at Two Distant Sites in Belize

Skeletons of some elite Maya individuals were found split between a house burial site and a cave 26 km away, with teeth from 24 people placed near a headless female body at the cave. The house site yielded 341 skeletal samples from 107 individuals. At the cave, researchers recovered 226 teeth total, including the 24 matching the house burials, along with five cacao seeds and a jade bead in a vessel.

Genome analysis showed the cave woman was a fourth-degree ancestor to some of the house-site individuals.

Caves were viewed as portals to a mythological watery underworld. By 1000 BC, rulers tied their authority to the ability to mediate with deities believed to control health, fertility, and rainfall. Classical-period elites further claimed descent from underworld ancestors, using that lineage to justify political and religious power.

The cave lies across rugged limestone terrain requiring a multi-day trek. Researchers noted closer caves existed, suggesting the distant site held specific religious and political meaning for the house-site group. The practice of placing selected remains at both locations is interpreted as an effort to position ancestors, and by extension living elites, as mediators with supernatural forces.