The mouth of this cave was carved into the shape of an altepetl, the trilobed symbol for the Nahuatl word for community or town. Altepetl is a contraction of atl, “water,” and petl, “mountain,” reflecting the Mesoamerican belief that mountains are sacred, hollow vessels where the rain god Tlaloc stored water before releasing it through clouds, springs, and caves. Seven chambers have been carved into the chambers inner walls, replicating the seven chambers in the walls of the Cave of Chicomoztoc.

Tom Gidwitz