Notes on Cenotes - Vol 4 Sneak Peek

Bryony Dennison takes us on an otherworldly trip into cenotes - ancient underground complexes of religious, cultural and infrastructural importance to the Mayans and Mexicans - that are currently under threat from modern infrastructural needs.

Article by: Bryony Dennison

Artwork by: Caitlin Noble

The ancient Mayan civilisation first emerged at least 4,000 years ago, in what is today’s southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Mayan culture may be best known for its vast temple and pyramid complexes - but a second world is found hidden below the surface.

The Yucatán Peninsula of southeast Mexico is home to some of the most famous ancient Mayan cities and settlements, including Chichen Itzá. The region also contains natural wonders, in the form of the largest number of cenotes in the world.

Around 10,000 of these flooded sinkholes, which are created when a cave system collapses to reveal an underground cavity filled with groundwater, have been counted.

Perhaps it is no surprise that these subterranean spaces, alongside caves, emerged as a core component of the mythology of the ancient Mayans who inhabited the area. These were places of death - but also of survival.

Caves and cenotes were believed to be entrances to the shadowy Mayan underworld, known to the Yucatec Mayans as Metnal - ‘place of the dead’.

Like in many other religions, the Mayan Lords of the Underworld, harbingers of death and disease, were said to make this place their home. This may be why the sites were often chosen as the locations of offerings to the gods; jade, pottery, and even human sacrifices were offered, often in request for rain and fruitful harvests.

But despite their otherworldly appearances, caves and cenotes are not just places of death. The Yucatec Mayans in particular believed them to be the home of Chaac, the rain god, and drew further associations with wind and clouds.

Cenotes were relied upon as the only constant source of freshwater in the riverless region and even today, they are the source of 95% of drinking water in Yucatán, for 5 million people. They were so integral to survival that villages not only emerged around, but were often even named after their local cenotes.

Caves and cenotes aren’t just vital to humans - animals also use them as a source of drinking water, as well as a place to rest, mate and bathe. The Yucatán hosts the richest mammal community ever recorded in a cave network; species ranging from paca and pumas to deer and agouti are found in the shadows.

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