Descent to the Underworld of Chechem-Ha
by Susan Hoffman

ABOVE: Pottery hidden in a ledge in the Chechem Ha cave, exactly the same way the Mayans left it a over millenium ago .

'I'm sitting cross-legged in the dirt floor in the deepest part of Chechem-Ha cave, looking at the fragments of bone that Abraham just handed me. They are brittle and gray with age. Are they animal? Human? How did they come to be in the dark recesses of this cavern?

I'm vacationing in Belize with my friends Anna and Jim. A serendipitous chain of events leaves us with the morning free. Bob Hale, the owner of Windy Hill Cottages near San Ignacio where we're staying, suggests that we visit Chechem-Ha. It was only discovered a few years ago and is not listed in any of our guidebooks, but on Bob's recommendation we decide to investigate the pre-Columbian Maya pottery that is said to lie in the cavern.

Our guide Mike takes us on a bumpy ride past the town of Benque Viejo, down a dirt road that follows the route of an electric transmission line which serves a new hydroelectric plant. To either side of the road, cleared milpas are thick with corn. The Belizean version of suburban sprawl accelerates the clearing of the forests and already the steep slopes are tracked with ruts of erosion.

We park at the Morales household and begin our trek along a jungle trail. The cave was discovered a few years ago when the elder Morales was searching for new palm fronds to thatch his roof. Now the Morales family serves as guides to the well-hidden cave. At first, the trail slopes gradually upward, but suddenly it turns and begins a sharp ascent. It is cluttered with roots and rocks slippery from the jungle humidity. Our arduous hike brings us almost to the top of a mountain. We stop to catch our breath and ready our flashlights as Abraham Morales unlocks the iron gate.

Immediately upon entering, the cave floor descends rapidly and the meager daylight filtering through the narrow opening disappears. But for our flashlights, we would be in complete darkness. The calls of jungle birds and the sigh of wind in the palms fade with the sunlight. The air is refreshingly cool and slightly damp.

ABOVE: Our guide leads us into the cave.

Just as it seems there are no living creatures here, Mike aims his flashlight against one wall and points out a spindly-legged scorpion spider. The animal is translucent, about 3" in diameter including its long legs. The blind arachnid has no need for flashy colors in the total darkness of the cave. He holds two oversized pincers in front of him in the fashion of a scorpion, hence its name; but unlike its namesake, this character is not poisonous. Mike picks up the delicate spider and hands it to me. I can barely feel it as it clambers slowly up my arm.

Continuing our descent, we round a bend and are surprised to find several large ceramic pots, burnished brown and stashed in a high niche along one wall. Ahead, more pots are massed on a ledge about 10 feet above the floor. Throughout the cave, rope ladders are strategically placed, allowing us to reach these higher shelves where pottery is precariously perched. Some of the pots are quite large - two to three feet high and more than a foot in diameter. Most are a deep glossy brown reflecting the feeble beams of our flashlights. A few still contain remnants of corn and achayote seeds, and some have bowl-shaped lids. Although most of the multi-colored polychrome pieces have been taken to a vault in Belmopan (the capital of Belize) for safekeeping or sent to the States for dating, there are still hundreds of pots scattered throughout the cave. Most appear to have served as storage vessels.