Interpreting a Subterranean Feature at Chichen Itza

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

During the 2019 season, a subterranean feature was excavated atop a pyramidal structure in the pueblo of San Felipe Nuevo, 839 m northeast of the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza. The entrance is a round, finely finished, chultun-like entrance 53 cm in diameter. The walls are plastered, which suggests its function as a water cistern, but the plaster is a mere 0.5–1.0 cm thick, which is certainly too thin to prevent leakage. Additionally, the feature measures only 84 cm from floor to ceiling, which makes it anomalous for a chultun. The feature was constructed in fill so it is also not a *sascabera, which may have a similar entrance. Its placement at the very top of a large platform provides the best clue to its function.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 31975