As early as 3,000 years ago, the ancient Maya journeyed into the myriad caves that dotted their landscape. These were foreboding places – dark, mysterious, home to predators, and riven with unseen hazards. The question naturally is: why? From the abundant material culture left behind, it becomes clear the Maya were doing something more than simply exploring or procuring water and shelter. The forthcoming documentary CAVERNS MEASURELESS TO MAN aims to delve into the practices and beliefs that led the Maya to risk life and limb in these remote and extraordinary spaces. Shot in an experiential way – by period torchlight – the film seeks to encounter “Xibalba” as the ancient Maya might have when entering this vast underworld inhabited by gods.
CAVERNS MEASURELESS TO MAN will be filmed in western Belize in July 2026. Partnerships with premier caving guides and expert archaeologists will allow extraordinary access and insight into caves never before accessible to the public, as well as the latest discoveries and research into the lived experience of the prolific subterranean ritual activity that took place in these spaces, including bloodletting, the creation of petroglyphs, deep burials, and sacrifice.
Most of these caves were discovered within the last 40 years and have remained in private hands. These untrammeled spaces are still filled with artifacts lying in situ and undisturbed, and many of the sub-chambers have not yet been fully explored. As such, they provide an invaluable window into the caves as they were in the time of the ancient Maya. A sampling of the caves the project will explore includes Chechem Ha, with its deep subterranean “altar” and hundreds of massive, intact in situ bowls, untouched for nearly 1,200 years; the vast Chapat Cave, with its extraordinary flowstones and burials; and “Son of Chapat,” with its own distinctive ritual space.
Additionally, CAVERNS MEASURELESS TO MAN will record acoustic patterns in riverine caves known as sites of ancient Maya pilgrimage and ritual. The captured acoustical data sets will then be processed using machine learning to discern any recurrent overlaps with ancient Maya syllabary. In short, the aim is to “hear” the cave as the ancient Maya did – the disembodied words of Xibalba and the supernatural entities believed to inhabit it. Archaeologists from across the United States and Mesoamerica will serve as the voice of the project, guiding us through the golden age of insight now unfolding in Maya archaeology as a result of advances in technology. Equally, the project will engage with contemporary Maya spiritual leaders who represent the living and continuing heritage of the ancient Maya, drawing upon their intimate knowledge of the cosmologies that first led their ancestors into the underworld over two millennia ago.
