Thousands of entrances to Xibalba, the Maya Underworld, can still be found across the Yucatán peninsula. These water-filled sinkholes, or cenotes, served not only as passageways to the afterlife, but as lifelines for the present. In this riverless land, the Maya depended on the cenotes as their primary source of water. Great cities like Chichén Itzá and Mayapán centered around life-sustaining cenotes, and small villages in the Yucatec hinterland still rely on them.

Cenotes were also the home of Chac, god of rain, and when the rains didn't come, Chac was appealed to with prized gifts--and human sacrifice.

From the Field
A couple months after my first trip to Yucatán, I've returned to Merída for another week of cenote diving with Guillermo "Memo" de Anda. Memo is usually quite busy during the school year as coordinator of the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán's underwater archaeology department, but he's still forging ahead in his mission to explore the thousands of cenotes scattered across Yucatan State. A handful of experienced divers have joined Memo and his students for the week to help follow up leads on previously unexplored cenotes in the Merída area. What our team discovers--or, in fact, rediscovers--on this expedition is the most basic tenet of any adventure: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

...that, and the most wonderful discoveries can happen in the most unlikely of places.

Day One: Off to a Great Start Day Two: Cenote No and the Cow Pit Day Three: Crashing and Burning

Day Four: A Dive in the Bottomless Hole Day Five: An Unlikely Discovery Day Six: Checking in with the Crocodile

Meet the Crew
Get acquainted with Memo and his team of students and experienced divers.

Ask the Archaeologists
Questions? Comments? Visit our bulletin board and fire away.

Diving the Maya Underworld
In ARCHAEOLOGY's May/June 2004 issue, Managing Editor Kristin M. Romey takes readers along on her first adventure into the watery depths of the Maya Underworld.

Cenotes in the Maya World
Formed over tens or hundreds of thousands of years, cenotes were critical water sources in the Yucatán and, for the Maya, entryways into the Underworld.

ROVs to the Rescue
Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) may help in the investigation of thousands of cenotes in Yucatán. Here's a look at one ROV team's recent expedition to cenote country, featuring exclusive ROV flight video!

Want to dig? Check the AIA's Annual Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin for ongoing excavations worldwide!