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Juxtlahuaca

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Painting 1 from Juxtlahuaca. 
Painting 1 from Juxtlahuaca.
Juxtlahuaca and other Olmec-related sites in the Formative Period. 
Juxtlahuaca and other Olmec-related sites in the Formative Period.
The red jaguar.© Matt Lachniet, used with permission. 
The red jaguar.
© Matt Lachniet, used with permission.
The feathered serpent.© Matt Lachniet, used with permission. 
The feathered serpent.
© Matt Lachniet, used with permission.
A photo of the ruler and smaller figure.© Matt Lachniet, used with
permission. 
A photo of the ruler and smaller figure.
© Matt Lachniet, used with permission.

Juxtlahuaca is a cave and archaeological site in the Mexican state of
Guerrero containing murals linked to the Olmec motifs and iconography.
Along with the nearby Oxtotitlán cave, Juxtlahuaca walls contain the
earliest sophisticated painted art known in Mesoamerica,^[1] and only
known example of non-Maya deep cave art in Mesoamerica.^[2]

Contents

* 1 The cave
* 2 The paintings
* 3 Other artifacts
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes
* 6 References

[edit] The cave

The Juxtlahuaca site is located some 45 km southeast of state capital
Chilpancingo in what is now a National Park. The entire cave system is
slightly over 5 kilometres. The caves, also called Grutas de
Juxtlahuaca ("Grottos of Juxtlahuaca"), are a favorite destination of
spelunkers. The caves are open to the public, but a local guide is
required.

The site's paintings have been estimated to be over a kilometre down a
long cavern: descent times are roughly two hours and some passages are
partially filled with water.

[edit] The paintings

The most well-known of the cave art is Painting 1, which features a
large bearded man with a black cloak, a striped tunic, and an
elaborate headpiece. The arms and legs are covered with jaguar fur,
and a small jaguar tail is even visible dangling down. The man is
brandishing a trident at a much smaller figure crouched to his side
and is carrying a long snake or snakelike object.^[3] This 2 meter (6
foot) tall painting is one of the rare Olmec-style portrayals of
human-on-human dominance,^[4] which some researchers interpret as a
scene of human sacrifice.^[5]

Also of note in Juxtlahuaca is a painting of a red Feathered Serpent
with green plumes, near a red jaguar whose large ears and eyes give it
a youthful cast. A design that has provisionally been interpreted as a
temple was found on a stalagmite.^[6]

The cave paintings have been known since at least the 1920s, but were
first professionally documented in the early 1960s by Gillett Griffin
of Princeton University and Carlo T. E. Gay, an Italian businessman.
Archaeologist Michael D. Coe has estimated that the paintings "might
probably be Early Preclassic (1200-900 BC, uncalibrated)" in date.^[7]
Juxtalhuaca is, so far as is known, unassociated with any large town
of that period. It is also not known how Olmec-influenced art came to
be painted hundreds of kilometres (or miles) from the Olmec heartland.
Caves are prominent on many Olmec-style monuments: several Olmec
"altars" depict shamans or rulers emerging from caves, and monuments
and reliefs at the archaeological site of Chalcatzingo, to the north
of Juxtlahuaca, also feature cave motifs.

[edit] Other artifacts

A dozen skeletons have been found in the so-called Hall of the Dead,
located midway between the entrance and the paintings. From their
positions, some extended and some in a fetal position, and their
condition, covered with a stalactite crust, the skeletons are assumed
to be ancient burials. Some have been partially buried as a result of
a cave-in.^[8]

Just before the paintings, an 250-foot (80 m) artificial canal has
been cut into the red clay floor of the cave. The purpose of this
canal is not known.

[edit] See also

* Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures
* Teopantecuanitlan

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Grove (2000).
2. ^ Stone (1997).
3. ^ Some have seen this as a rope that is tied to the smaller
figure: flowstone may have obscured the object so that it is
presently seen as a snake-like object and a belt around the
smaller figure.
4. ^ The other two prominent displays of human-on-human domination
are Chalcatzingo's Monument 2 and Altar 4 at La Venta.
5. ^ Coe (2005).
6. ^ Griffin, p.4.
7. ^ Coe (2005).
8. ^ Coe (1968), p. 99.

[edit] References

* Coe, Michael D. (1968) America's First Civilization, American
Heritage Publishing, New York.
* Coe, Michael D. (2002); Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs
London: Thames and Hudson.
* Coe, Michael D. (2005); "Image of an Olmec ruler at Juxtlahuaca,
Mexico", Antiquity Vol 79 No 305, September 2005.
* Diehl, Richard A. (2004) The Olmecs: America's First Civilization,
Thames & Hudson, London.
* Griffin, Gillett G. (1978) "Cresterías of Palenque", Third
Palenque Round Table, eds. Robertson, Merle Greene; Jeffers,
Donnan Call.
* Grove, David C. (2000) "Caves of Guerrero (Guerrero, Mexico)", in
Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: an
Encyclopedia, ed. Evans, Susan; Routledge.
* Lachniet, Matt; Slide show on Juxtlahuaca cave; University of
Nevada - Las Vegas, accessed February 2007.
* Stone, Andrea (1997) "Regional Variation in Maya Cave Art",
Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, April 1997, p. 33-42.

Coordinates: 17°23'N, 99°16'W
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juxtlahuaca"
Categories: Mesoamerican sites | Cave sites in Mesoamerican
archaeology | Archaeological sites in Mexico | Olmec sites | Caves of
Mexico | Wild caves