Archeologists and divers on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday announced that they found a passage connecting two underwater caves, creating what they say is the world’s longest continuous flooded cave.
Divers from the Great Maya Aquifer Project said the discovery has revealed a combined cave about 347km long.
Mammoth Cave in Kentucky remains the world’s longest cave of any kind, with more than 650km of passages explored.
Photo: Reuters / Great Maya Aquifer Project Handout
The Sac Actun and Dos Ojos caves were both previously known and are near the Caribbean coastal town of Tulum. The combined cave is to be known as the Sac Actun system, taking on the name of the longer section.
Divers have long known that Yucatan’s underground caves and rivers are frequently connected, but finding this connection was a task that involved years of searching through labyrinthian passageways.
Many caves in the Yucatan were at one time above sea level and were dry or partly dry.
Evidence of early human inhabitants and extinct fauna have been found inside some cave systems. Relics of the Mayan culture, whose descendants still populate the peninsula, have also been found in the caves.
“This immense cave represents the most important submerged archeological site in the world, as it has more than 100 archeological contexts,” subaquatic archeologist Guillermo de Anda said of the find. “Along this system, we had documented evidence of the first settlers of America, as well as extinct fauna and, of course, the Mayan culture.”
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