1.- Natural cave - a typical cavity in the earth with an ordinary entrance.
Natural caves. Typical holes in the ground. A sixteenth century writer named
Fray Sahagún, described a typical cave in Mexico. "It is narrow, penetrating, broken
through, black. It is spacious, enlarged. It is extensive, mysterious, deep. It is the
abode of wild beasts, of the coyote, and the serpent; a frightful place, made into a
hole,..."
Examples of natural caves are at Zitlaltepec in the Tintero, Pinal, and Huilotepec
hills. Formed by water, these cavities have an ongoing current of air. A mortuary site was
found in one of them. All that remained were bones and gold thread for burial clothes.
Note an animal in the cave at Huilotepec; a Chichimeca hunter shoots it with an arrow.
Observe a woman at the mouth to another cave, while a hunter stands outside. This cave
enters on the east side of Pinal and continues under the mountain with a twisted tree and
entwined snakes, to exit in the direction of a lagoon.
A bird inside the mouth of a natural cave, adjacent to a
ball court.
A natural - ordinary cave system located in the pass between
Cuauhtinchan and Amozoc. This area is "Barranca Cerro Partido". This old route
is described proudly by informants in Cuauhtinchan as "el camino real." MC2
depicts this cave with both a jaguar and an eagle. Simons makes the connection and writes,
"This is the house of the eagle and the jaguar" (Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca,
105).
Another example lies at the northeast corner of the MC2 map. North of
Pico de Orizaba (ancient Citlaltepetl, 5,700 mts.), a mountain with permanent glaciers.
This natural cave is within Calocan hill near Tepetitlan. The cave mouth is towards the
east. Note a person facing south. At the base of this hill and cave is an impressive
archaeological site.
More important in terms of ritual use, a fifth example of an ordinary
cave. Situated in the valley of Mexico, it is within a green hillock. At its west side
grows a nopal plant. On the south side, the entrance is primitive and obviously a natural
cave opening. The interior is tinted red, alluding to an igneous deposit of pyroclastic
material. These volcanic deposits are common to this area.
Simons makes this comment, "a hill with cactus-like vegetation on its slopes... It
has a cave painted red, which has a white sign like a draped cloth at the entry."
This is a "draped white cloth" at the mouth of a cave, analogous to a curtain.
Like a veil that cloisters something behind it.
