The September 2012 issue of the National Speleological Society News (United States) reports a unique archaeological find near a small town in the eastern highlands of Oaxaca. More than 40 figures sculpted from mud were found inside “a river-filled cave with over one kilometer of passages,” writes explorer Tamara Ballensky. “They varied in size from about two to eight feet in length. The majority of the figures resembled humans … One of the most detailed female figures appeared to wear a beaded necklace and had tattoo-like designs on her shoulders.”
Ballensky was a member of an expedition consisting of five U.S. cavers and four local explorers. Several of the Americans came upon the mud sculptures deep inside the cave, to the surprise of local guides who had previously found pottery and animal bones in the cavern, but nothing as dramatic as the larger-than-life mud figures lying in total darkness about 600 meters from the entrance. “These beautiful, mud bodies are the most extraordinary archaeological objects I have ever seen,” comments the speleologist.
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