Tlacolula de Matamoros
The caves and rock shelters vary in size and what they contain. Many contain paintings and other forms of graphic representation. Contents include ceramics and stone tools. The corn materials show similarities to the first vestiges of the domestication of wheat and rye in the Middle East. One of the deepest caves is called the Cueva de la Paloma. The caves have been studied since the 1960s, especially the Cueva de Guilá Naquitz (white stone in Zapotec), which has some of the best evidence for the domestication of corn and squash, which dates back more than 10,000 years. Other caves, such as those near Yagual and Mitla confirm findings at Guilá Naquitz and show human occupation to about 8000 years BCE the sites also show similarities to the Head Smashed and Buffalo Jump Complex sites in Canada. Many more smaller caves with similar artifacts are thought to exist in the area.
Castellana Caves
The Caves of Castellana open in south-eastern Murge, a limestone plateau dating back to the upper Cretaceous (ninety- one hundred million years ago) and rising 330 metres above sea level.
The area of Castellana is characterized by limestone, a sedimentary rock composed largely of calcium carbonate, known as Limestone of Altamura.
The cave system is 3348 metres in length and the point of maximum depth reaches 122 metres. The temperature within the caves is about 18 °C.
The caves are open all year round except for Christmas Day and the New Year’s day. The visit develops along two itineraries: the first is 1 km long and lasts about 50 minutes while the second is 3 km long and lasts about two hours. The tour timetable changes depending on the season. In addition, during the summer there are also guided night tours.
The Grave is the first and the biggest cave of this wonderful speleological complex and it is the only one communicating with the outside. It measures 100 m in length, 50 m in width and 60 m in depth. Going beyond the Grave stalactites, stalagmites, curtains and precious crystals continues to embellish everywhere the caves. The name of the environment are the result through the imagination of the early explorers: the She-Wolf, the Monuments, the Owl, the Little Virgin Mary, the Altar, the Precipice, the Desert Corridor, the Reverse Column, the Red Corridor, the Dome up to the last and the most dazzling one, the White Cave.