Loltun Cave

Loltun Cave in Mexico’s Yucatán is a major natural, archaeological, and paleontological site with evidence of human use stretching back more than 10,000 years. Named from Maya words meaning “Flower Stone,” it contains ancient wall paintings attributed to the Maya of the Late Preclassic era or earlier, along with tools, pottery, and traces of clay extraction for ceramics. Its chambers preserve painted hands, faces, animal figures, geometric designs, and sculptural forms, as well as notable natural features. Excavations have also revealed extinct fauna and evidence of earlier vegetation, including remains of mammoth, bison, sabre-toothed tiger, and deer from the Pleistocene. It later served as a hiding place during the Caste War.

Yucatán · Mexico