Important Local News Coverage in English

Translated from El Universal QUINTANA ROO. - Last March 2012 a skeleton disappeared from the Chan Hol cave. It was not the "Man of the Temple" or "Young Chan Hol I", as originally broadcasted, but a different archeological finding, named "Chan Hol II," now also known as "The stolen girl from Chan Hol."

That skeleton, whose gender was confirmed by the hip bone left behind, is the best preserved set of remains out of eight similar, found in the submerged cave systems. These underground rivers have been flooded since the Ice Age, more than 10 thousand years ago, but before that were dry for thousands of years and were a shelter and a water collection site of the first populations of America.

““The stolen girl from Chan Hol” is the eighth prehistoric human skeleton located in Tulum. Data has been traced to the final stage of the Ice Age, known as Upper Pleistocene, and it is the most serious evidence that the first settlers in this region and in the rest of the Americas, didn’t only came walking through the Bering Strait,” said spelunker and espeleologist Jerónimo Aviles Olguin.

Underwater archaelogy specialist Jerónimo Aviles Olguin is co-author of the “Study of Pre-Ceramic Human Groups in the east Coast of Quintana Roo,” supported by INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History for its acronym in Spanish), and the participation of biologist Arturo Gonzalez, spelunker Eugenio Acevez, physical anthropologists Alejandro Terrazas and Martha Benavente, among others.

The importance of this skeleton is that, compared to previous ones, it’s the best preserved since the bones were covered with a mineral deposit which made them more resilient. “Every bone in the skeleton was covered with “speleothem”, which is a mineral deposit that made it much stronger than for example the “Chan Hol I” which in comparison was almost dissolving” said Avilés Olguin.

Project coordinator Arturo Gonzalez, explains that “Chan Hol II” is a very important piece of the puzzle for understanding the peopling of the Americas, but also to understand changes in the ecosystem and global natural disasters such as global warming. He is also director of the Coahuila Desert Museum, and explains that during the Ice Ages the caves were dry, men and animals lived in it, also at that time the sea level was 100 meters lower than where it is now.

“The importance of this skeleton is that it is very young, and in such a good condition, that facial reconstruction could be performed; but the fact is that it was most probably destroyed while stolen because it was not collected by experts, limiting our investigation,” Gonzales declared.

The partial recovery

In an interview with El Universal, Aviles Olguin recounts that the last time “Chan Hol II” was seen, was on March the 16th, and its absence was confirmed on 23rd. The next day, archaeologist Carmen Rojas announced in social networks the disappearance of the skeleton. "The existence of this skeleton was documented through a photographic record, and when they realized the looting and compared the photos to what was left in the cave, they noted that 80% of the skeleton was missing or stolen," he said.

The news of the disappearance flew around the world within related circles. However, for some reason, the finding of those partial human remains was sparsely published to the general public.

The archaeological salvage the skeleton was done by spelunker and underwater archaelogy specialist Jeronimo Aviles Olguin and other professionals. During two dives made in April, they managed to retrieve some parts of the skeleton. "We rescued vertebrae, rib fragments, jaw, molar and two incisive teeth, and bones of hands and feet, which are an important key to confirm whether it’s a very old skeleton," Aviles Olguin detailed.

The material was rescued and taken to the Institute of Anthropological Research of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) for their study. The hip, which wasn’t stolen because it was petrified, was the key to determine that the gender of the skeleton is not male, but a young and robust female; according to the observations of anthropologists Benavante and Terrazas.

A remain of one of her arms was also found, but the lost or hidden skull and the rest of the skeleton is yet to be found.

Since the theft, INAH distributed, mainly among cave divers settled in Tulum, signs reading "Wanted pre-Mayan skeleton disappeared in the Cave of Chan Hol." In those posters it reads that the skeletal remains are from the eighth pre-Maya of Tulum, with a probable antiquity up to 14, 500 years; perhaps prior to the "Woman of Naharon", considered the oldest skeleton of the Americas.

Because of the looting, the INAH delegate in Quintana Roo, Adriana Velásquez Morlet, filed a complaint with the Federal Prosecution Office or PGR, located in Cozumel.

In an interview, Adriana Velásquez Morlet denied that the missing remains could have left the country, as speculated in Tulum, where there is the theory that the skeleton was extracted by specialized divers who enter these caves, and was then allegedly taken to Germany for study.

"It definitely could not have left the country just like that. For me, this is an act of vandalism that had to be committed by someone local that can dive, who knows the area and has the equipment to perform such exploration," Velásquez Morlet said.

Stolen or Hidden?

Alejandro Alvarez, member of the Mexican Exploration Project and director of NGO “Diving Cenotes and Sea” (BUCEMA A.C.), emphasizes that few spelunkers knew about this finding and its exact location, so he shares the theory that only someone very close to its discovery and with sufficient knowledge and equipment could steal it.

“I believe in the possibly that it was an act of vandalism of local cave divers, most of them are foreigners. What is also certain is that the INAH has no control over who enters the cenotes to explore the caves. You just pay the owner and enter.” Alvarez mentioned.

"Down there, nobody knows what you do or not do, but the truth is that not just anyone can enter. This means that only an expert cave diver, who knows the area can actually pull this off. You cannot just go in there swimming, and recently, divers come here from Europe with very sophisticated equipment," he admitted.

A theory of what happened to the skeleton is that it wasn’t removed or stolen, but rather, hidden by one of the specialized divers who discovered it originally, to "protect" or prevent INAH staff to take him for research.

"I think the responsible could be one of those involved in the exploration of the Chan Hol cave and the discovery of the skeleton, and not knowing the importance of this evidence, are unhappy with the research project because we collect the materials for research and to prevent looting," said Jeronimo Aviles Olguin.

The spelunker is confident that the person or people responsible will come through anonymously. “I have the hope that they will call us and tell the INAH, me or any other one of the spelunkers “I'm sorry: The rest bones are here.”” Jeronimo said.

Meanwhile, Arturo Gonzalez said that those who have stolen or hidden the skeleton have no idea of ​​the value possessed by these specimens; as he says, they are essential to "understand what is happening now in our planet."

The next step will be to make a systematic search of the skeleton in the cave: "We need the owner of the cenote to be informed and not let anyone in, or to keep records in order to control and detect anyone taking a box of bones," said Aviles Olguin.

Meanwhile, the recovered remains will be used to do comparative studies with other skeletons in order to determine if they have the same morphology as the others. Studies will also determine the height, age and cause of death.