Ice Age sinkholes gave Maya access to underworld caves

Around the end of the Ice Age, underground rivers collapsed forming massive sinkholes across the Yucatan Peninsula, revealing cave systems that extend for miles beneath the surface. The Maya discovered these caverns thousands of years ago and believed they were direct portals into Xibalba, the underworld. These dry cenotes created isolated environments that may harbor unknown or extinct species. 🕳️⛏️ The caves that would become sacred passages to the realm of the dead were literally carved into the landscape by nature itself.