Underwater Investigations of Mass Burials in Two Cenotes at Mayapán, Yucatán, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

With support from The National Geographic Society and The Waitt Foundation, the Mayapán Taboo Cenote Project conducted investigations at Cenote Sac Uayum, a sacred, water-bearing sinkhole located at the Postclassic Maya political capital of Mayapán, Yucatán, Mexico (AD 1150-1450). The work brought together an international collaboration of researchers from the United States, Mexico, Estonia, Italy, France and Australia. The research revealed a large mass burial deposit within the cenote. The study yielded significant new insights into the cenote that many modern inhabitants consider to be "alive" and believe is guarded by a large feathered serpent with the head of a horse. The feature has drawn the attention of researchers working at the site since the first archaeological work began at the ancient city because of its conspicuous and apparently intentional exclusion by the large defensive wall surrounding the bulk of the settlement. This paper will present findings from the study and compare them to the results of the previous study of a second mass burial deposit first discovered in 1997 by a team led by INAH researcher Eunice Uc González. Osteological analysis of samples collected from both locations were analyzed by osteologist Stanley Serafin.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25009