Archaeological Investigations in the Candelaria Caves and La Lima, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala

Introduction

In 2003, the Vanderbilt Upper Pasión Archaeological Cave Survey (VUPACS) was asked by the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports to register, document, and investigate archaeological remains in the 18.5 km² proposed Candelaria Caves National Park (Figure 1), which opened in 2004 and is co-managed by the Ministry of Culture and two local Q'eqchi' communities. In order to accommodate this request, the project engaged in investigations of the cave system and an associated settlement located within the park bounds.

The Candelaria Caves were a major ritual center associated with the Great Western Trade Route (Hammond 1972, Arnauld 1990, Demarest et al. 2003), which followed up the Usumacinta and Pasión rivers to a series of interconnected valleys through Carchá and Salamá. This important route, along with the eastern route through the Motagua Valley and along the Caribbean coast, brought jade, obsidian, iron pyrite, quetzal feathers, and other highland goods to the Classic lowland market.

The caves are located at the highland-lowland transition 12 km. to the south of Cancuén (Figure 2) in an area defined by pyramidal haystack karst hills and ridges abutting the beginning of the highlands. The Candelaria Caves were brought to international attention by French spelunker Daniel Dreux in the 1960s, who soon after its discovery invited archaeologist Patricia Carot to perform a reconnaissance of the principal caves in the system (Carot 1989). A later reconnaissance of the first cave in the system was conducted by members of the Salinas de los Nueve Cerros Project (Pope and Sibberenson 1981). Although both projects reported a large amount of ceramics from throughout the Classic period, limited time and resources prevented an intense study of the caves or associated settlements.

FAMSI-funded research in the caves and the associated Late Classic settlement had several important results. 1) It was the first comprehensive archaeological survey of this system, and revealed evidence of intense use during the Classic period related to traffic along the trade route.  2) It provided the foundation for subsequent research in the Candelaria Caves and other Cancuén Project investigations in the Northern Highlands, and 3) research here was able to leave a positive impact on the local communities through the creation of the co-managed national park, proposing minimum-impact tourist routes through several of the caves, the training of guides, and the production of special tourist impact maps to allow the village committees to modify the routes as time progresses.

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