The ancient Maya utilized aspects of their landscape within their religious rituals and ceremonies, including caves. The study of ritual cave use is known as Maya cave archaeology and archaeologists in this subfield suggest that all holes in the earth, be it natural or man-made were viewed as ritually significant spaces to the ancient Maya (Brady and Layco 2018). This thesis analyzes the mortuary pattern of a chultun in relation to natural cave rituals and/or burials to determine if both types of subterranean spaces functioned in ritually similar ways. Through excavation of a dual-chambered chultun at the site of Ka'kabish, this research established a parallel pattern between burials found in natural caves and the burials within a chultun/artificial cave. In so doing, this thesis provides much needed data in support of applying Maya cave archaeology theories and practices in the excavation and study of ancient Maya chultuns.
Author Keywords: Belize, cave burials, chultuns, Maya archaeology, Maya cave archaeology, mortuary archaeology