7,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings Found Near (Maya) Chichen

Anthropologists have discovered cave paintings near Chichen Itza believed to predate the Maya civilization by more than 5,000 years.

There are depictions of human figures praying (arms extended upward and squatting), men hunting with spears in hand, animals and birds, and impressions of hands in positive and negative, he said. The style indicates they are of great antiquity, pre-dating the Maya civilization which flourished in this region from around the time of Christ to about 1500.

www.americanegypt.com...

This is an exciting find, even as a precursor to the 2009 expedition which will be exploring a Mayan temples' secret, underground chambers.

"Search for Secret Chambers"



[edit on 2-12-2007 by anhinga]

Interesting. I have heard that the science used in dating things like this is not really all that accurate. I am curious how certain they are of the date.

reply to post by Karlhungis


...I don't know should they of used radiocarbon dating in this find. From a vague search, I found these two pages on RCD. The Wiki page mentions tree rings and a give/take of 700 years. The other site uses a timeline to discuss accuracy.

en.wikipedia.org...
home.tiac.net...

...they found some 60 paintings of man-like figures at the Kab cavern situated near the famous Chichen Itza archaeological site. There are also drawings of animal figures, birds or canines... the cave 'shows the existence of symbolic thinking in Mesoamerica, when the human groups were still hunters and gatherers', something that he said was of 'extraordinary importance'.

in.news.yahoo.com...



[edit on 2-12-2007 by anhinga]

Going by the art alone, there are startling similarities with examples of the most primitive cave paintings in the world.

A quick comparison here

Nice find, anhinga. These representations are what drives me as an artist.



[edit on 2/12/07 by masqua]

Does it seem odd that they painted a deer or antelope type animal? I didn't think they had anything like that in South America and the only ones I can google are imported and in hunting preserves. Anybody have any info on that?

reply to post by masqua


Thanks for the link, I'm checking it out now, some early Africa painting, beautiful. I do see some similarities in both.

And they surely are inspirational to anyone w/ creative talents.

This site has interesting info:

www.crystalinks.com...

The term 'petroglyph' should not be confused with pictograph, which is an image drawn or painted on a rock face, both of which contribute to the wider and more general category of rock art...

The oldest petroglyphs are dated to approximately the Neolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, other writing systems such as pictographs and ideograms began to appear... Petroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except Antarctica with highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia, Siberia, sw N America and Australia.

[edit on 2-12-2007 by anhinga]

reply to post by mythatsabigprobe


...off the top of my head, from Mayan readings, I know there were goats, cattle and some gazelle-like deer in Mexico then; here's a site where there's speculation of gazelles 10k+ years BP:

www.indiana.edu...

Originally posted by masqua
Going by the art alone, there are startling similarities with examples of the most primitive cave paintings in the world.

A quick comparison here

Nice find, anhinga. These representations are what drives me as an artist.



[edit on 2/12/07 by masqua]

Its incredible to think that these paintings are "primitive" and so old yet I have trouble drawing a stick figure

Mazatl on the Aztec Calendar means Dear in Nahuatl... Tenochtitlan [Modern-day Mexico City] where the calendar stone was found is located in Mesoamerica...

www.myspace.com/thiefsicario

I think the most important part of the paintings is the praying with the hands towards the sky...

This is older than Egypt and Babylon, and it is Sun Worship, it is interesting that all over the world we find civilizations worshiping the Sun in the same way...

Common folklore or just an accident that they would all use the same sorts of prayer to the same sorts of gods?

COOL FIND OP!

Many ancient cultures worship the sun. Its very noticable and gives great benefits - and when it not around its very very dark and scary and a time many predators hunted men.