Place	Population	Distance
San Ignacio	16,812 (2016)	19.6km
Belmopan	13,381 (2012)	19.7km
Valley of Peace	1,809 (2012)	24.9km
Benque Viejo el Carmen	7,092 (2017)	26.9km
Melchor de Mencos	11,457 (2013)	28.4km

Mindat Locality ID:

16658

Long-form identifier:

mindat:1:2:16658:5

GUID (UUID V4):

Name(s) in local language(s):

Actun Tunichil Muknal

The name "Actun Tunichil Muknal" means “Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre”.
Locals refer to the cave as “Xibalba” after the Mayan underworld.

The caves contain skeletons, believed to have been sacrificed, that have been completely calcified and the skeletons glisten and sparkle in the light.

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Mineral List

ⓘ Calcite

1 valid mineral.

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ Calcite

Formula: CaCO₃

References:

Amy Benoit Frappier, Dork Sahagian, Scott J. Carpenter, Luis A. González, Brian R. Frappier (2007) Stalagmite stable isotope record of recent tropical cyclone events. Geology, 35(2): 111-114.

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates
ⓘ	Calcite	5.AB.05	CaCO₃

List of minerals for each chemical element

C	Carbon
C	ⓘ Calcite	CaCO₃
O	Oxygen
O	ⓘ Calcite	CaCO₃
Ca	Calcium
Ca	ⓘ Calcite	CaCO₃

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actun_Tunichil_Muknal
Wikidata ID:	Q344570

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

Central AmericaRegion

Maya MountainsMountain Range
Sierra Madre de Chiapas

North America

Central AmericaSubregion

North America PlateTectonic Plate

Mayan HighlandsVolcanic Arc

This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.

Quick NavTop Mineral List Other Databases Other Regions

Mindat.org® is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Mindat® and mindat.org® are registered trademarks of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2026, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph and Ida Chau.
Content on this site may not be used to train, fine-tune, or otherwise develop artificial intelligence or machine learning models without prior written permission - see our Terms & Conditions.
To cite: Ralph, J., Von Bargen, D., Martynov, P., Zhang, J., Que, X., Prabhu, A., Morrison, S. M., Li, W., Chen, W., & Ma, X. (2025). Mindat.org: The open access mineralogy database to accelerate data-intensive geoscience research. American Mineralogist, 110(6), 833–844. doi:10.2138/am-2024-9486.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: October 19, 2026 17:31:38 Page updated: August 23, 2025 00:37:30

Go to top of page

Crystal Tomb caves, San Ignacio, Cayo District, BelizeiRegional Level TypesCrystal Tomb cavesGroup of Caves San IgnacioTown Cayo DistrictDistrict BelizeCountry function showexplain() { $("#locexplain").toggle(); if (typeof movemap === "function") movemap(); }