cave

Someone forgot a bag of cheetos in the largest cave chamber in the US. The problem is chaos to the ecosystem that comes after

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That humans can generate The biggest chaos in ecosystems that surround us I think it is out of any doubt. However, already a difference from other animals, no matter how large the error is, We are able to repeat it In a short time. Therefore, what happened in one of the most fascinating areas in the United States is a good example. Even if it is A simple check of Cheetos. The importance of Carlsbad’s caverns. Located in the state of New Mexico, it is about A set of more than 119 underground cavesof great geological and ecological importance. Formed by the acid water action that dissolved the limestone over millions of years, these caverns stand out for their vast network of passages and cameras, including the famous “great room”, one of the largest underground cameras in the world. These unique geological formations include impressive stalactites, stalagmites and columns, hence it is of great scientific interest to study the processes of training of caves and the geological history of the southwest of the United States. However, this enclave named World Heritage by UNESCO has also become a must of mass tourism. A bag. As The National Parks Service explained in an article (NPS), what happened should make all future tourists think after a distracted visitor left a bag of Cheetos in the depths of the Carlsbad caverns. Apparently, the snack dropped into the historic great room, the largest cave chamber by volume in North America, the same one that can only be accessed by walking around an hour underground. A pump to the ecosystem. Once there, the bag can rot in the wells of the wet cave. In other words, those small “cheese” snacks stranded in the cave can make a small expansive wave through the local ecosystem. “The processed corn, softened by the moisture of the cave, formed the perfect environment to house microbial life and fungi. The crickets, mites, spiders and flies of the cave are soon organized in a temporary food network, dispersing the nutrients to the cave and the surrounding formations. The mold extends to the nearby surfaces, gives fruit, dies and smells bad. Count the NPS In a publication. A much bigger problem. In the same article it is denounced that “at the scale of the human perspective, a spilled snack bag may seem trivial, but for the life of the cave the world can change,” they emphasize. “Great or small, we all leave an impact wherever we go. Let’s all leave the world in a better place than we find,” adds the center. Apparently, the rangers had to perform an arduous follow -up task to carefully eliminate any rest of the garbage and mold from the surface of the cave, hoping to avoid any lasting impact on the cave. Garbage and natural environments. One of the great scourges of The National Parks of the United States It has to do with what visitors “bring” and leave when they leave. That garbage throws chilling numbers: more than 300 million people visit the national parks every year, generating almost 70 million tons of garbage. And of all enclaves, the caves take the worst part. The reason? They are more vulnerable because they are isolated from the outside world and house a rich variety of highly adapted, endemic and sensitive organisms. If a new seasoning is added to the equation, call cheetos or similar ones, the result can radically alter the balance of biodiversity. The example of the Lascaux cave. Possibly, it is the most famous case and the clearest example of how we are capable of alter an environment of this type. Discovered in France in 1940, they immediately became famous for their cave paintings dating from 17,000 years ago, one of the best samples of prehistoric art. However, after opening to the public in 1948, mass visits began to negatively affect the delicate microclimate of the cave. Apparently carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors, along with moisture and changes in temperature, began to cause visible damage to paintings, such as the appearance of fungi and algae on the walls. These changes put at risk the conservation of paintings, some of the most important in humanity. Closed forever. Faced with this deterioration, in 1963 the French authorities made the decision of Close the Lascaux cave to the public To protect the paintings. Since then, only a very limited number of scientists and conservation experts have had access to it. In fact, to allow the public to continue appreciating the art of Lascaux, a replica known as Lascaux II was created, which reproduces the main cameras and paintings of the original cave. This measure, protecting the historical value of the caves with steel doors and security cameras, has allowed to preserve the artistic heritage of Lascaux while maintaining its educational and cultural value. Maybe we should do the same with all caves with historical value. Although before it should be reviewed that no one has left a snack. A version of this article is PUblicó in 2024 Image | Ken LundCarlsbad Caverns National Park In Xataka | We have been recycling the garbage we produce. Experts say it has not served at all In Xataka | In the US, a woman used an AirTag to check if recycling served something there. It turned out that it did not work

Archaeologists have been wondering how the drought affected the Mayan collapse. The answer was in a remote cave

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The sayinger says that the devil is hidden in the details. Often, when we talk about archeology, key clues too. Archaeologists who investigate the collapse of The Mayan civilization. For years experts wonder if that decline was motivated by changes in commercial routes, wars or climatic factors, such as droughts, a theory that has gained weight over the last years. What historians did not know is to what extent the Maya endured the shortage of rain between the ninth and 10th centuries. Now we finally know. And all thanks to A stalagmit Lost in a remote cave of Yucatan. What happened? That archaeologists have just achieved a valuable clue to better know the history of Mayan civilization. And not any period. What they have discovered is a fact that sheds light on one of their most fascinating chapters, The collapse of the classical period, a phase that extended Between the IX and X Centuries From our era and that he saw how the flourishing Mayan civilization fell into decline and the twilight of large cities arrived. During that stage the southern limestone settlements were abandoned and civilization moved northlosing part of its influence at a political and economic level. What have you found out? That this stage was marked by droughts. To be more precise, archaeologists have found out that between 871 and 1021 of our era they happened Eight long droughts In the Yucatan Peninsula, periods of water shortage that with all probability influenced the population. Not all of them lasted the same, but experts estimate that each of those episodes of agostation lasted at least three years, although there was one in particular that extended 13. Let us talk about extreme droughts It does not mean that it did not rain. With that term archaeologists refer to periods of at least three consecutive years during which the dry station lasted more months than usual or even in which one cannot talk about wet season as such. The experts They recognize That 13 years under these conditions, even with the water management techniques developed by the Maya, leads to “a great impact for society.” Why is it important? Because as the authors of the investigation recognize in An article Posted a few days ago in the magazine Science Advancesthat prolonged drought chain could play a key role in the history of the Maya, “contributing to the collapse of classical civilization.” “This period of Mayan history has fascinated us for centuries”, Recognize Dr. Daniel H. James, author of the study. “Multiple theories have emerged about the cause of collapse, such as changes in commercial routes, wars or severe droughts, based on the archaeological evidence left by the Maya. But in recent decades we have begun to learn a lot about what happened to the Maya and why, mixing archaeological data with quantifiable climate evidence.” Is it something new? Yes. And no. It is not the first time that archaeologists explore the impact that droughts had on the decline of classical Mayan civilization. Over the last years they have already reached more or less similar conclusions thanks to sediment study collected at the bottom of the Chichankanab lagoon or of Stalactite samples Obtained in a cave in southern Belize, clues that pointed to the role played by climate oscillations in The Mayan collapse. The new data obtained by James and their colleagues also fit other signals, as with the dates left by the Maya themselves in their monuments or records in the popular Chinchén Itzá. There, in one of the great settlement of the Yucatan, the inscriptions of dates are mysteriously faded just during the periods in which we now know that there were severe droughts. “It does not mean that the Maya left Chichen Itzá these periods, but it is likely that they had more urgent things than to worry about building monuments, as if the crops on which they depended would be successful or not.” So … why is it important? Although It is not the first time that archaeologists point to the effect of droughts in the Mayan collapse the new study published in Science It is important for several reasons. First, for your approach. Second, for its precision. In this case, researchers have departed from an especially valuable track: the stalagmites located in a Yucatan cave. Thanks to the dating and analysis of the oxygen isotope layers that contain these calcareous rocks, formed on the ground with the water that drips in the cave, experts have been able to obtain “very detailed information” on the climate of the terminal classic period. “Previous studies have measured the isotopes contained in lake sediments to determine the severity of drought, but do not contain enough detail to accurately find out the climatic conditions in a specific year and location,” They clarify From Cambridge. Unlike what happens with the sediments collected from the bottom of the lakes, “excellent to obtain a global vision,” says James, the stalagmites offer a variety of concise data. “They allow us to access more precise details that we were missing,” Write down the expertwho now acts as a researcher at the University College in London. According to the team, this has been the first time that archaeologists have been able to isolate information about the rains of humid and dry stations individually, obtaining the details of each one. How precise are they? Its authors say so. So far the stalagmites had provided data on rainfall annual measures during the classical terminal periodbut that information did not allow scholars to go down to detail. How much did it rain exactly in humid stations and dry? Thanks to the Yucatan stalagmite analyzed by the experts, which contains relatively thick annual layers, of about a millimeter, the experts have been able to analyze oxygen isotopes of each stage, an indicator of the drought. “Knowing the average annual rainfall does not reveal as much as knowing how every rainy season was”, Dr. James points out. “Isolate the rainy season … Read more

The curious story of how an eight -year -old girl unwittingly discovered the paintings of the Altamira cave

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A few minutes by car from the precious, fresh and walkable Cantabrian town Santillana del Mar is one of the great national treasures, the Altamira cave. Closed to the public now for obvious reasons, but visited through a recreation made to the millimeter baptized as NeocuevaAltamira retains an impressive collection of Paleolithic paintings, the oldest with more than 30,000 years of history. And like many other great discoveries, we arrive at her by chance. This is its story. Modesto Cubillas. Although the discovery of the Altamira cave has always been involved in a certain controversythe Ministry of Culture of Spain He attributes it To Modesto Cubillas in 1868. The story that Cubillas was hunting when his dog fell through some rocks while chasing a dam. When attending his aid, he met the caverns, to which he did not give greater importance for 1) to be common in the region and 2) be covered with vegetation. The first visit. Cubillas told what he had seen his neighbors, but the thing was there. It was not until 1875 when Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, naturalist, Spanish prehistoriator and great -great grandfather of Ana Botín (president of the Board of Directors of the Santander Bank), visited the cave for the first time to meet zero units of things that called him attention, beyond black lines to which he did not give importance. Input of the Neocueva that recreates the original entrance | Image: Xataka But yes … Years later, Marcelino attended the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1878 And there he could see prehistoric objects. How were, how to identify them. Armed with new knowledge, he decided to return to the cave with the little girl María San de Sautuola y Galantehis daughter of only eight years. That was in 1879. The innocent curiosity. While the father was looking for remains at the entrance of the cave, little Maria, motivated by the innate curiosity of a girl of her age, decided to continue forward and enter the gallery. Upon arriving at the bottom, Maria shouted “Look Dad, oxen” while pointing to the roof. They were not oxen, but bison, but the error was normal: the oxen were the shot animals used in the area. Marcelino identified the species represented as the bison, which was then considered extinct in Europe, but did not find bones of the animal in the cave. Given the unusual of the cave, whose realistic paintings extended throughout the roof, thus being one of the most important and large discoveries of the moment, all kinds of debates were generated. From the denialism of discovery to accusations that it had been Marcelino himself who had painted the figures. The years, however, would be right, although this could write rivers and ink rivers. They were not oxen, they were bison | Image: Xataka And he got. The news of the discovery of the paintings soon arrived at the nearby corners. Hundreds and hundreds of people approached the cave carrying, in an entire exercise of irresponsibility as a result of ignorance, candles, candiles, compasses and strings. The visitors took the remains to their home, chopped the ground to find more and the cave began to deteriorate. Thus, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuloa decided to place a wooden door on the hole that made the entrance. Puerta that paid from his own pocket and after obtaining the authorization of the village of Vispieres, headlines of the cave. In return, he invited them to a snack that took place, curiously, inside Altamira. In the lower image the signed document can be seen and the promise of making a snack. Later, in 1880, the wooden door was changed to an iron fence and a guard was appointed. Authorization signed by the neighbors to put a wooden door at the entrance of the cave | Image: Xataka Entrance is not the original. An important note: the hole that was covered with a fence was not the original entrance. The great mouth of the cave where the inhabitants of Altamira made life collapsed 13,000 years ago. That entry remained covered until its discovery in 1869. Thanks to the stability of the inner atmosphere, the paintings have been able to preserve well for millennia. The current entrance was built in 1927 and the closest to the original mouth is the entrance to the Neocueva. THE VISITS PROBLEM. Returning to La Cueva, in 1910 the City Council of Santillana del Mar created a conservation and defense board of the cave that, back in 1917, allowed the visit with a guide. In 1924 he was declared a National Monument and the rest can be imagined. The number of people who accessed the cave increased more and more, being the 60s and 70s the most dangerous. Only in 1973 more than 174,000 people accessed inside. Such was the influx of people who, after a study and A debate that reached the Congress of DeputiesIn 1977 he closed. Panoramic roof of the Altamira cave | Image: Xataka Closed. Altamira closed its doors until 1982, when it was reopened with a limited capacity of 8,500 people a year. The interest of the people valued the idea of creating a visitable replica, something that happened in 2001 with the Neocueva located in the newly opened National Museum and Research Center of Altamira. In 2002, the cave closed the public again Waiting for impact studies. It would be reopened in February 2014 and until August of that same year, admitting five people per day for 37 minutes to study the impact of possible visits. The sign. It is not known what it means, but dates from 36,000 years ago | Image: Xataka The hand. 22,000 years old | Image: Xataka The rampant horse. 22,000 years old | Image: Xataka The goat. It is a pyrenaic goat (it is known by the horns). 18,000 years old | Image: Xataka Standing bison. 18,500 years old | Image: Xataka The deer. It is curious, because the belly is about a … Read more

For centuries the Christians pilgrimage to a remote cave to venerate Salome. Problem: They were wrong with Salome

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There was a time, many centuries ago, in which Christians went to an old cave located in the Judea Lowlandsnear the village of Eliav, in search of inspiration. Over the years even a Sacred place For Islam. There (the remains of Salome were supposed to be, a biblical figure with echoes in the origins of Christianity. Some versions identified it as the midwife that attended the birth of Jesus. Others as one of his disciples and witness of the crucifixion. It is even said that she was Maria’s little sister. Now a group of Israeli archaeologists has reached a fascinating conclusion that relies on vestiges located years ago In the cave: I probably Salome that rested in his day in the crypt was neither the midwife nor disciple of Jesus, but an opulent and powerful aristocrat related to Herod. In a place of Judea … The Salomé cave is a wide sepulcher located in Sefeláthe lowlands of Judea, with an exceptional archaeological value. In fact there are those who consider it one of the funeral caves “More impressive” discovered in Israel and “More elaborate” of his time, the known as period of the Second templewhich extended between the centuries VI AC and I DC Specifically, experts believe that the crypt built between the I AC and I DC The cave itself is no novelty. The archaeologists excavated it decades ago, in the mid -80s, after they were located. Throughout the last years, however, they have expanded our knowledge about the grave. By 2022 A group of experts from Israel Antiquies Authority (IAA) made an excavation in part of the enclosure that revealed new data on its architecture and history. He also confirmed that for several centuries that remote Cave of Sefelá was used as a veneration space. And how is it? Wide. Elaborate. And fascinating. The archaeological set includes a lobby, a large patio surrounded by silry stone walls and a funeral cave with several cameras in which they were preserved Kokhimfuneral niches excavated in the rock, in addition to ossuaries. Although archaeologists studied the thorough crypt in the 80s, a few years ago they wanted to go further, analyzing in depth The 350 m2 courtyard and cleaning the inside of the cave. “The patio turned out to be one of the most elaborate of its kind compared to other cemeteries of the same period,” he says An article Posted by the IAA. Among other things, experts met stones with Jewish motifs and “delicate plant designs,” such as rosettes, grenades and acanthus vases. Nothing to do with most access courtyards to funeral caves found by archaeologists, who are usually excavated, not raised with masonry. Cave … and pilgrimage place. If the grave is so relevant, it is not only because of its size, architectural characteristics or decoration. There is another equal or even more relevant factor. For a while the cave was a pilgrimage place. During their excavations of 2022 and 2023 in the front courtyard, archaeologists discovered a row of positions in which clay lamps were sold and rented. “We find hundreds, complete and broken, dating from the eighth centuries and IX DC”, They explain Nir Shimshon-Paran and Zvi-Fire, directors of the excavation. “The lamps may have served to illuminate the cave or as part of religious ceremonies, similar to the candles that are distributed today in the tombs and churches,” They add. In the cave, Greek, Syriac and Arab inscriptions, recorded crosses and indications that reveal that the funeral space remained in use during the Byzantine and Islamic periods were also located. “The excavations show that, in the Byzantine period, the site had become a place of Christian pilgrimage,” experts say, which tells us about a wide period of worship that covers from the 5th century to the IX DC DC The cave of Salome. The question was obvious … Who belonged to the funeral cave? Who rested in his day in the crypt? And why the archaeologists found crosses and dozens of inscriptions recorded directly on the rocks of the walls? The answer is both simple and complex: the Sefelá cave was the resting place of ‘Salomé’. Among the inscriptions in different languages, archaeologists identified several in Greek that mention that same name, ‘Salomé’, supposedly a religious figure relevant to Christians. In An article Published this year on the sepulcher, IAA experts remember that, in the 1090s, the scholars that analyzed the inscriptions have already concluded that the first monks who arrived in the cave in the Byzantine period discovered an ossary with the inscription ‘Salomé’, a relatively frequent name in the Judea of the beginning of the beginning of Christianity. “During the second temple period it was not common Explain Paran to The Times of Israel. “It is possible that the cave contained an ossuary with the name of Salome, although we did not find it. It could have been looted.” So … who was the famous Salome? The midwife of Jesus? A tradition attributes that name to a figure that appears in it Protoevangelio de Santiagoapocryphal text in which a Salomé is cited as a midwife that doubted the virginity of Mary. The story tells that his disbelief earned him a punishment that ended up turning it into a symbol. “According to the Christian tradition, Salome was the midwife of Bethlehem who was called to attend the birth of Jesus. He could not believe that they asked him to participate in the birth of a virgin and his hand dried. He only healed when he held the baby’s crib,” Remember From the IAA. Other versions They place Salome as a disciple of Jesus, Mary’s sister or has even confused her with the mother of Santiago and Juan. “The cult of Salomé, sanctified by Christianity, belongs to a broader phenomenon: the Christian pilgrims of the 5th century found and sanctified Jewish places. The name Salome could have appeared in ancient times in one of the alter’s already disappeared from the tomb and thus the tradition … Read more

In 2023 some explorers entered a remote cave in Mexico. They found the last archaeological treasure of the country

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The initial idea of ​​Adrián Beltrán and Yekaretina Katiya Pavlova, Mexican guide the first, Russian speleologist the second, had little to do with archeology. In September 2023, both professionals decided to take their bártulos behind their backs and enter the Tlagoococ cavelocated in the middle of Sierra de Guerrero (Mexico), to map their galleries. Once there they discovered, however, something that made this goal happen to the background: after traveling 150 meters to the bottom of the cave and entering a submerged passage, the couple met with An archaeological treasure hidden for several centuries. The legacy of an ethnicity already extinct, The tlacotepehuas. In a remote cave in Mexico … The Cave of Tlayócoc, in the Sierra de Warrioris well known in the area for its natural resources. It provides water. And a guano that farmers usually resort to pay their orchards. What was not known until Beltrán and Pavlova entered the cave in September 2023 It is also hiding a valuable archaeological treasure that will allow historians to expand their knowledge of pre -Hispanic cultures. To get to him the guide and the speleologist entered 150 m in the cave, submerged to move towards the grotto and reached a camera. What did they find there? Two bracelets made with shells arranged in stalagmites. The image was so shocking that, as I would report later Pavlova to the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH), the first thing that came to mind was that it was garbage. Maybe plastics. When he approached and looked at those more close pieces, he realized that he was facing something different. “It was very exciting! An experience similar to discovering a well of more than 300 m inside the cave. Here we were lucky,” Recognize The Russian cartographer. Was that all? No. In the area there were more pieces, including another bracelet, a large shell and fragments of black discs, similar to pyrite mirrors. Pavlova took photos and raised some theories about the possible origin of all that, but decided to leave the discovery in the hands of experts. He notified the discovery and the ejido authorities and the Carrizal de Bravo Surveillance Committee were responsible for ensuring that the site was not looted. Recently local authorities decided to go further They asked the INAH Let the cave register again. The area is not easily accessible, it is located at an altitude of 2,387 meters and to get to it you have to cross ravines, a river and a road where travelers risk finding snakes or pumas, but in March a team of experts registered the site. Thanks to this work today we have a more precise idea of ​​the archaeological treasure of the Tlayócoc cave: 14 pre -Hispanic objects Among which include bracelets and stone discs similar to pyrite mirrors. Clearing unknowns. Archaeologists recorded in total three shell bracelets, a fragment of bracelet of also malacological origin, the shell of a giant snail (experts believe that of the species Strombus sp.) perforated and with decorations, a fragment of carbonized wood and remains of stone discs, but also fixed in the environment. In the camera they observed, for example, the stalagmites had been retouched during rounding their shape. When examining in detail the bracelets also verified that they were made from shells (TRIPLOFUSUS Giganteus) that someone had dedicated themselves to decorating with engravings of symbols and anthropomorphic figures, including faces, brands in the form of “s” and lines in Zigzag. The brands, the position of the bracelets and the shape of the stalagmites suggested a theory to the experts: the cave was a ritual place. “Possibly the symbols and representations of characters in the bracelets are related to pre -Hispanic cosmogony regarding creation and fertility,” Comment Cuauhtémoc Reyes, of the INAH Guerrero Center. Why is it important? Clarified what and where was another pending question: when. Archaeologists concluded that the pieces are from the post -classic period and were probably placed in the cave between the years 950 and 1521 AD, which leads them to think that they are related to the Tlacotepehua culture, which inhabited that region several centuries ago. “It was a branch of the Tepuztecas, an ancient group that lived in the mountains and was dedicated to working the metals, hence its name,” adds archaeologist Pérez Negrete in A statement of INAH. There are also bracelets that remind other pieces located in guerrenses deposits and farthest areas. “Find of great relevance.” The phrase is again from Pérez Negrete, who insists on the scope of the discovery. “With the study of the contextual relationship of the pieces of the cave, we can interpret symbolic notions, cultural, manufacturing and even commerce aspects, to characterize pre -Hispanic societies settled in the Sierre de Guerrero,” claims. Experts also handle very little information about the Tlacotepehua culture, which It ended up extinguishing at the beginning of the viceregal era. As if that was not enough, the INAH remembers that it is the first time that its experts go to the community of Carrizal de Bravo, which marks “the beginning of a campaign” to promote the awareness and preservation of heritage. Images | Cinah Guerrero and INAH (Katiya Pavlova) In Xataka | We have found remains of an unknown civilization in Mexico: the closest thing is an artistic style of Bolivia and Peru

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