[4] According to the UNESCO summary, the caves were discovered by a Q'eqchi' Maya Native,[1] a hunter named Bernabé Poin mid 1979 while hunting peccary with his dogs.

Her work was published as Images from the Underworld: Naj Tunich and the Tradition of Maya Cave Painting by the University of Texas Press (ISBN 029272652X).

[7] A news item stated that in 1989, unknown persons "scratched, scraped or smeared into oblivion more than 20 of the ... images and hieroglyphic texts".

Furthermore, the capricious formations of nature have made stalactites and stalagmites, creating a magical world within the multiple rooms and meandering branches of the cave.

Among its visual representations are approximately 90 images among which anthropomorphic characters, animals, deities, musical instruments and hieroglyphic texts are represented.The cave is located on a “sheer limestone cliff face more than 200m above” the surrounding valley, making access difficult.

[11] Studies have shown that the materials required for these alterations were carefully chosen and carried from long distances.

Maya artifacts at Naj Tunich include offerings of ceramics, lithics, bowls, precious minerals, copal incense, and human sacrifices.

[15] Archaeologists believe that Naj Tunich was associated with the Maya city of Uxbenká, as it is located 2.3 km south of the Stela Plaza.

[15] In fact, it is believed that the Stela Plaza construction coincides with alterations made within Naj Tunich cave.

[11] Archaeologists have also noted that individuals at the Stela Plaza in Uxbenká were capable of looking out to Naj Tunich and vice versa.

[11] Many studies have focused on Naj Tunich as being imbued with sacred, ritual power within Maya cosmology.

[12] Naj Tunich is also unique in that it included cosmograms referred to as mesa which “defines the cosmic center and the four quarters” which originate from it.

[16] Archaeologists have explained that for the Maya, Naj Tunich may have represented the house of a divine being or entrance to the underworld, Xibalba.

[3] The sites associated with having visited Naj Tunich included “Caracol, Ixkun, Ixtutz, Calakmul, Dos Pilas, and possibly Xultun.

[1] The art of Naj Tunich cave varies greatly with subjects including mythological stories, deities, rituals, and performances.

"[18] These explicit depictions of male figures with erect genitalia may relate to all-male performances of sex and gender.

[11] Conservation efforts led by the Uxbenká Cave Project (UCP) have assisted in salvage operations at Naj Tunich.