Candelaria Cave facts for kids
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Cueva de la Candelaria
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Detail of a skull found in Cueva de la Candelaria. Wears a head ornament made from vegetal fibers and seashell beads. Currently displayed at INAH National Anthropology Museum.
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| Location | Candelaria, Coahuila, Mesoamérica Mexico |
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| Coordinates | 25°25′16″N 100°57′40″W / 25.42111°N 100.96111°W |
| History | |
| Periods | 1200 - 1500 CE. (Postclassiocal) |
| Cultures | Chichimeca – Coahuilteca |
The Cueva de la Candelaria (Candelaria Cave) is an important archaeological site in Coahuila State, México. It is a cave that ancient people used as a cemetery. They were nomadic groups, meaning they moved from place to place.
Archaeologists first studied the cave in 1953 and again in 1954. They found many interesting items. These items are now kept by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).
What makes Cueva de la Candelaria special is the large number of textiles found there. These fabrics give us clues about the nomadic cultures of Aridoamerica. Researchers say the textiles look like woven baskets. However, it's hard to identify the cave's exact occupants. This is because they found few stone tools like the atlatl (a spear-thrower).
History books mention nomadic groups in this part of Aridoamerica. They were generally called Chichimeca. But they also had specific names, like the Coahuiltecos, Huachichiles, Irritilas, and Tobosos.
We don't know much about these groups. Old records rarely describe their customs, languages, or traditions. But we do have some archaeological evidence. Caves like Cueva de la Candelaria were used as homes and burial sites. Tools, clothing, and gifts were often buried with the dead. Other famous sites include La Espantosa and La Chuparrosa.
The people who used Cueva de la Candelaria buried their dead in special packages. These packages held the body and personal items. These items included ornaments made from natural fibers, leather, shells, and feathers. Other clothing and footwear were also included. Everything was wrapped in a blanket woven from cotton or cassava fibers. Then it was tied with twine. Many packages at Cueva de la Candelaria were found open. This suggests they might have been disturbed by looters.
Contents
Discovering the Past
Early Mentions of Burials
People have known about ancient burials in Coahuila for a long time. Records from the 1600s mention them. In 1645, a Jesuit priest found a cave "full of skulls and human bones." Later, in 1778, a Spanish captain reported finding a "very large cave with Indian corpses." These bodies were "wrapped in fine tapetes" (mats or blankets).
However, more detailed descriptions came in the 1800s. Explorers visited caves in southwest Coahuila. They described how ancient people buried their dead. Bodies were placed in a bent position. They were wrapped in blankets and tied up. This is why they are called "mortuary packages."
Important Explorers
In 1880, an English botanist named Edward Palmer explored the area. He found caves with human remains and many artifacts. These items were made of wood, feathers, bone, seashells, and stone. A book about Palmer's explorations was published in 2006. For this book, researcher Leticia Gonzalez Arratia studied Palmer's findings. She spent time at the Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University.
Other early explorers also found these burial caves. In 1838, Juan Nepomuceno Flores described a cave in Sierra Mojada. It held many corpses wrapped in the special way. In 1848, Jose Ma. Avila visited two mortuary caves. One was near El Coyote ranch. Edward Palmer later found four more caves between El Coyote and Monclova. Even though some had been looted, some untouched packages remained.
Professional Exploration
The most important mortuary cave in northern Mexico was Cueva de la Candelaria. It was professionally explored in the 20th century. This happened in 1958. A team of archaeologists, geologists, and anthropologists worked there. Their findings were later summarized in a major study.
The Cave and Its Burials
Candelaria's Unique Burials
Archaeologists found mortuary packages of three infants and over 100 adults. These burials date back to the 1200s. This information comes from INAH. Archaeologist Leticia Gonzalez, an INAH researcher, explained that these packages contained many items. These items were both inside and outside the shroud (burial cloth). This shows that the hunter-gatherers of the Coahuila desert respected their ancestors.
Gonzalez's project, "Mortuary Packages," studies funeral caves in northern Mexico. She focuses on caves in Coahuila, like La Candelaria, Coyote, and Three Springs. The Three Springs cave was found recently. Researchers divided the found objects into groups. They studied the fabric used for the shroud. They also looked at the bands and laces used to tie the body. Other groups included ornaments and tools found outside the shroud. These included spears, bows, large baskets, and digging sticks. The digging sticks were about 50 to 60 centimeters long.
The Burial Ritual
The burial ritual of these hunter-gatherers had several steps. First, they prepared the body. They put on clothes, ornaments, and tools. Then they wrapped the body in fabric and tied it. A special detail is that all skeletons found were in a bent position.
Next, they moved the bodies to the mortuary caves. All caves in Coahuila are underground. The entrance is a small hole. After about five or six meters, the tunnel opens into a larger chamber. These caves were like natural tombs. They were often small, which might explain why bodies were bent.
The final step was preparing the cave itself. Bodies were not just left on the ground. They were placed on beds made of wood, nopal leaves, or maguey leaves. Items that didn't fit inside the shroud were placed outside. This often included large baskets, arrows, bows, and digging sticks. These items are commonly found in these tombs. The human remains were placed on the funeral bed but never actually buried in the ground.
The ritual had different stages. Bodies were placed in caves with hunter's tools. Three items were almost always present: bows, large baskets, and digging sticks. There were also two main burial traditions. One was wrapping the body in fabric. The other was wrapping it in a petate (a woven mat) or bedroll.
Coahuila's Mortuary Caves
The mortuary packages in Coahuila's caves show something important. Hunter-gatherer groups in northern Mexico had complex burial rituals. These rituals reveal a rich social and religious life in pre-Hispanic times.
Researchers have studied old documents and archaeological finds. This has helped them understand the link between these caves and the burial rituals. The descriptions in old documents match the archaeological items found today. Many features repeat over centuries. This shows that people systematically placed their dead in these caves.
An important fact is how bodies were placed in the caves. Most caves have an entrance that slopes steeply down. This leads to a first chamber. There might be more underground chambers too. These chambers held the bodies of many people. Some caves, like La Paila, held up to 30 individuals. The Coyote cave held "many." Cueva de la Candelaria had at least 200 individuals. Sierra Mojada might have had around 1,000. All accounts say that bodies were originally tied in "mortuary packages." They were placed next to each other or stacked.
See also
In Spanish: Cueva de La Candelaria para niños
