Archaeologists exploring the world’s largest flooded cave in Mexico have actually found Ancient Human remains a minimum of 9,000 years old and the bones of animals that strolled the earth during the last Glacial epoch.

A group of scuba divers recently connected two underwater caverns in eastern Mexico to reveal exactly what is thought to be the most significant flooded cavern on earth, a discovery that might help shed brand-new light on the Ancient Maya civilization.

The Yucatan peninsula is studded with monumental antiques of the Maya individuals, whose cities drew upon a substantial network of sinkholes linked to below ground waters called cenotes.

Scientists say they found 248 cenotes at the 347-km ( 216-mile) cavern system referred to as Sac Actun, near the beach resort of Tulum. Of the 200 historical sites they have actually discovered there, around 140 are Mayan.

Some cenotes acquired particular spiritual significance to the Maya, whose descendants continue to populate the area.

Apart from human remains, they also discovered bones of huge sloths, ancient elephants and extinct bears from the Pleistocene duration, Mexico’s Culture Ministry said in a statement.

The cavern’s discovery has rocked the archeological world.

“I think it’s overwhelming. Without a doubt it’s the most essential undersea historical site worldwide,” stated Guillermo de Anda, scientist at Mexico’s National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH).

Suitable conditions for conservation.

De Anda is also director of the Gran Acuifero Maya (GAM), a task devoted to the study and preservation of the below ground waters of the Yucatan peninsula.

According to the INAH, water levels increased 100 meters at the end of the Ice Age, flooding the cavern system and leading to ” perfect conditions for the preservation of the remains of extinct megafauna from the Pleistocene.”.

The Pleistocene geological date, the most recent Ice Age, started 2.6 million years earlier and ended around 11,700 years back.