A remote ritual cave in the Usumacinta Basin has yielded a cache of Late Classic Maya artifacts, including several intact stucco masks and polished obsidian mirrors. The cave, which requires rappelling to access, appears to have been used for secret lineage-based ceremonies involving communication with ancestral spirits. The masks depict deity-like figures with features that resemble the ruling elites of the region.
The Maya ritual cave discovery is particularly significant for the quality of the stucco work, which retains its original red and Maya blue pigments due to the stable humidity of the cavern. The mirrors, crafted from high-quality volcanic glass, were likely used as scrying tools by shamans to interpret omens. The cave floor also yielded thousands of ceramic fragments from sacrificial incense burners used over several centuries.