Barton Creek Cave

Barton Creek Cave
Barton Creek Cave location in Belize
Location	Barton Creek, nearSan Ignacio,Cayo District
Region	Belize
Coordinates	17°6′46″N88°55′41″W / 17.11278°N 88.92806°W /17.11278; -88.92806

Barton Creek Cave is a natural cave inBelize, known as both an archaeological site and as a tourist destination. It is located in the upperBarton Creek area nearSan Ignacio in theCayo District.

Barton Creek Cave is a primarily single-passage resurging stream cave. By 2002 acave survey had been completed by the Western Belize Regional Cave Project, recording a total of 6,400 m (21,000 ft) of passages; dye traces at sinking streams above the cave indicated that there could be a further 6 km (3.7 mi) of cave passages beyond the terminal sumps. By 2005 the Xibalba Mapping and Exploration Team had extended the survey to 8 km (5.0 mi).

In the early 1970s, several Mennonites from the nearby Mennonite community floated a short distance into Barton Creek Cave on oil drums. They found human bones not far from the cave entrance. On May 9, 1974, two Peace Corps Volunteers working for Belize's Dept. of Archaeology as experienced cave explorers (Barbara MacLeod and CarolJo Rushin) entered the cave accompanied by a local farmer (American expat Patrick Cartwright). The trio paddled over a mile into the cave, finding artifacts but not the human bones discovered by the Mennonites. The following day, MacLeod, Rushin and Cartwright explored two nearby caves, accompanied by three Mennonites. One cave contained Maya potsherds and artificially constructed seats or altars. The other cave contained an artificial rock pile mixed with Maya potsherds.

Extensive looting of artifacts occurred soon after the cave was first reported, but it remains an important site for archaeologists. Evidence of cave use by the Maya exists on ten ledges within the first kilometer of cave passage. Pottery sherds indicate use between the Early Classic (200 to 600 CE) to the Late Classic (600 to 900 CE) periods. The remains of at least 28 humans have been found within the cave.

• Larson, David and Eleanor.Multiyear Project to Map Caves for the Belize Department of Archaeology, 2002 NSS Convention
• Larson et al. "Report on Multiyear Project to Map and Photograph Caves for the Belize Institute of Archaeology", 14th International Congress of Speleology

• http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V64/v64n3-Abstracts.pdf
• https://web.archive.org/web/20151223084118/http://www.nichbelize.org/ia-archaeological-sites-parks/archaeology-of-barton-creek.html

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