The presence of the ancestors in the ground — accessible, in a sense, through the dark shaft that led to the underworld — was part of what made the plateau home.

It was part of what gave the living community its right to be there, its identity as the people of this specific limestone hill country.

This is speculation, necessarily, because the specific beliefs of the ancient Texans are not recorded anywhere that survives.

But it is informed speculation, grounded in what is known about the role of ancestral burial sites in traditional societies across the world.

And it makes sense of the evidence: the repeated return to the same location, the care with which the dead were placed, the offerings that accompanied them.