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42AMCS Bulletin 12 — Chapter 4of the Department of Environmental Sciences at theUniversity of California, Riverside. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis indicate that the material consistsof dolomite with trace amounts of calcite. Thesoft dolomite appears to have been easily excavatedfrom the walls of the chamber while the resulting limestoneshelves (or protrusions) were broken-off andstacked in the antechamber. No tools were found associatedwith the mine; however, the soft dolomitecould have been easily excavated with perishable (albeithard) wooden implements.It is important to note that the mine room is shelteredfrom erosive forces as well as drip water and iscoated with an unsullied deposit of dry dolomite powder.In the northwestern portion of the room, is a 50cm-deep pit that was excavated into the floor. On theedge of this pit is a small pile of dolomite powderwith the tracing of the fingers that produced it stillintact (figure 4.1.12). I should mention that it is difficultto determine the antiquity of mining activities inActun Toh. Interestingly, the scars of a modern steelpick are clearly visible in the cave wall. An assessmentof possible contemporary mining activities inActun Toh, as well as an interpretation of the material’sfunction, is presented in the final chapter of the dissertation.Located above the mine room is a chamber designatedas operation 2. These two portions of the caveare connected by a vertical shaft; however the chamberis accessed from the main chamber of the cave viaa series of steps carved into the bedrock. The broadflat floor of the chamber is characterized by bedrockand is mostly free of debris. Only a few sherds werefound scattered across the floor. A chert core was recoveredfrom a ledge inside the shaft leading down tothe mine. A path from operations 2 and 3 leads up tothe eastern side of the pyramidal structure and completesthe circuit around the cave.The final delineated area within Actun Toh isoperation 7, which is essentially a pit that formsthe northern boundary of the floor. The reason whythis pit merited a well-constructed stairway is unclear(see figures 4.1.2 and 4.1.3). The bottom of the pit ischoked with rubble and dressed blocks that havetumbled down the northwestern slope of the pyramidalstructure. Opposite the stairway is a jagged bedrockledge that may be the result of mining or quarryingactivities. Although dolomite strata are not visible here,Top: Figure 4.1.10. Frontal skull-like image from ActunToh.Middle: Figure 4.1.11. Actun Toh, operation 3, stratum ofsoft dolomitic material. Hole in stratum is a small rodentburrow.Bottom: Figure 4.1.12. Actun Toh, operation 3, pile ofdolomitic material. Note finger tracings.