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The Holy Spirit Grotto (''La Gruta del Espíritu Santo'' in 
The cave itself is located in a heavily forested volcanic landscape two kilometers north of Corinto, and is approximately 60 meters wide, 30 meters in height, and 20 meters deep, with multiple chambers. There are around 200 pictographs within the cave, each of varying colors, including red, ochre, black, green, yellow, and white. The size of each painting varies greatly. Some of the human figures can be up to 100 cm in height, although most are only around 30 cm. General symbols ranged from 4 to 50 cm in height. To see a variety of images taken from the cave, please proceed to the referenced Bradshaw Foundation page.
Due to its location in an area of archaeological and anthropological interest, there is a great desire to develop it as a cultural center. Two large holes can be seen in an overhanging cliff, which could possibly have been used for astrological purposes. There are also standing stones with cupules, as well as what could possibly be the remnants of an extinct lake or river system. An ancient Spanish road also traverses the outcrop, "leaving deep cartwheel parallel tracks, indicating travel and trade with Archive
by the Bradshaw Foundation The cave is 20 meters by 60 meters in size, with several different chambers, and 30 meters in height. This would be sufficient space to support the dwelling of 200 people at a ratio of about 60 square feet per person.
Spanish
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* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
), also known as Corinto Cave, in Corinto, Morazán
Corinto is a municipality in the Morazán department of El Salvador. " La Gruta del Espíritu Santo" (The Holy Spirit Grotto) is a local tourist attraction, a registered National Monument of petroglyphs. The archaeologist Wolfgang Haberland perfor ...
, El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
, is a registered national monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure.
The term may also refer to a spec ...
of petroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
. The cave is largely associated with the Xibalba
(), roughly translated as "place of fright", is the name of the underworld (or quc, Mitnal) in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a c ...
legend. The archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
Wolfgang Haberland performed studies in the late 1970s indicating the art belongs to the pre-Classic stage
Several chronologies in the archaeology of the Americas include a Formative Period or Formative stage etc. It is often sub-divided, for example into "Early", "Middle" and "Late" stages.
The Formative is the third of five stages defined by Gord ...
of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
n civilization. The cave likely got its name due to the Mesoamerican association of caves with the underworld, meaning that they are "considered an entrance to the underground world governed by spirits and deities of death, disease, water, and fertility." The cave is an important cultural and religious site for the Lenca nation, forming part of their traditions and legends of the place where ancestors of Balam Colop parted (which is mentioned in the Popol vuh), according to their legends and traditions, is father of all Lenca people, given the association of caves with the underworld by Mesoamericans, the name of 'Holy Spirit Cave' is ironic and perhaps an attempt by early Spanish to "exorcise" the cave in El Salvador. The "holy" nature of this cave is further confirmed by a man named Don Argelio Alvarez, who happens to be one of its guardians. Roughly translated, he claims that the cave contains "something magical and inexplicable that inspires tranquility and peace." Many people from various religious groups also continue to visit the site and carry out ceremonies, such as what Don Argelio believed to have taken place in the cave many centuries ago. However, it is entirely possible that the cave was instead used for other means. A German scientist found some handcrafted arrows and knives made of obsidian within the cave, leading him to believe that it may have actually been a shelter for hunters instead.
The cave itself is located in a heavily forested volcanic landscape two kilometers north of Corinto, and is approximately 60 meters wide, 30 meters in height, and 20 meters deep, with multiple chambers. There are around 200 pictographs within the cave, each of varying colors, including red, ochre, black, green, yellow, and white. The size of each painting varies greatly. Some of the human figures can be up to 100 cm in height, although most are only around 30 cm. General symbols ranged from 4 to 50 cm in height. To see a variety of images taken from the cave, please proceed to the referenced Bradshaw Foundation page.
Due to its location in an area of archaeological and anthropological interest, there is a great desire to develop it as a cultural center. Two large holes can be seen in an overhanging cliff, which could possibly have been used for astrological purposes. There are also standing stones with cupules, as well as what could possibly be the remnants of an extinct lake or river system. An ancient Spanish road also traverses the outcrop, "leaving deep cartwheel parallel tracks, indicating travel and trade with Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
to the north."by the Bradshaw Foundation The cave is 20 meters by 60 meters in size, with several different chambers, and 30 meters in height. This would be sufficient space to support the dwelling of 200 people at a ratio of about 60 square feet per person.
Notes