The Maya Cave of Naj Tunich, Guatemala By Nicoletta Maestri, Contributing Writer The cave of Naj Tunich, meaning “Stone House,” is located on the edge of the Maya Mountains in southeastern Peten, Guatemala. The site lies in the municipality of Poptun approximately 1 km west of the border with Belize and at an elevation about 600 ft above sea level. Archaeological evidence in it suggests that it was a well-known Classic period pilgrimage destination for rulers and other elites in the southeast Peten and adjacent areas of Belize. It is best known today for containing the largest corpus of hieroglyphic texts found in any cave in the Maya area, the large numbers of unique paintings of supernatural figures and fertility images, and as the object of a pioneer study on ancient Maya cave ritual practice. Sadly, much of the art was destroyed soon after it was discovered. History of Exploration Naj Tunich first came to light to the Western world in 1979 when Bernabé Pop stumbled upon it while ou...