Xibalba, the Place of Fear: Caves and the Ancient Maya Underworld

Abstract

Caves were a salient feature of Maya cosmology that instantiated the underworld of Xibalba. Described in myth, its very name meant the place of fear or fright. Yet, ancient people journeyed deep into the darkness to conduct rituals for deities associated with rain, fertility, and the ominous Lords of the Underworld. Although little was written about ritual practices in the Classic period, the artifact record attests that ancient people left offerings of ceramics, household items, incense, jewelry and sometimes sacrificial victims for the powerful beings that inhabited caves. These sites are still considered sacred in Maya communities today, a testament to the resilience of Maya religion and cosmology and the power of myth.