Wooden figurines, idols, and scepters are commonly depicted as
paraphernalia in Classic-period ritual iconography, but few examples of
these objects exist. In 1999, a small wooden figurine was recovered
from a cave near the Late Classic center of Muklebal Tzul in the Maya
Mountains of southern Belize. It probably represents an ancestral deity
or historical figure. Its recovery from a cave is appropriate. Caves
functioned as arenas for legitimizing ancestral relationships through
mediation with earth-focused deities. Combining analysis and
interpretation of the archaeological context with a reading of
documentary sources, we review the role of ancestor figurines in Maya
society and offer interpretations of how this and similar objects
functioned in Classic-period Maya religion and ritual.