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Unparalleled Active Learning Adventures Planned for Threatened Maya Underworld
What do one of the largest meteors ever known too have hit Earth, one
of the most mysterious and advanced ancient civilizations ever known,
the second longest barrier reef in the world, 2 billion migratory birds,
the oldest human skeleton yet found in the Western Hemisphere and some
of the last true physical human exploration left on the planet all have
in common? They all can be found on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
Most people who have visited the peninsula are familiar with cenotes - the enigmatic crystal clear pools of water that dot its landscape. What perhaps they don’t realize is that these crystal clear pools of water are the common link between the many fantastic aspects of the Yucatan Peninsulas natural and cultural history. Over the last 20 years, an amazing amount of information has been compiled as a result of the continued exploration of the cenotes. With this information, explorers and scientists are helping to unlock the many hidden mysteries of the peninsula and work with adventure tour operators in order to guide this region into a sustainable future.
The Yucatán Peninsula forms one of the largest limestone platforms in the world. Covering over 250,000 km2 and with a thickness of over 21/2 km in some places, the peninsula formed over millions of years due to the deposition of calcium carbonate from ancient reef systems.
Over successive ice ages, ocean levels rose and fell on average 120 meters, alternately submerging and revealing this enormous platform. During the times when it was exposed, rainwater mixing with carbon dioxide produced a weak acidic solution called carbonic acid, which dissolved the limestone and formed solution caves. As the last ice age came to a close 18,000 years ago, the polar caps melted, ocean levels rose and the caves were flooded.
The entrances into these flooded cave systems, or underground rivers,
are called cenotes, a derivation of the Mayan word ‘dzonot’ which means
‘sacred well’. It is estimated that more than 7,000 cenotes exist over
the broad, flat expanse of the peninsula. Cenotes are the unique
geographic feature to our area. The cenotes are to the Yucatan Peninsula
what the Alps are to Switzerland and the Outback is to Australia. They
are fast becoming one of the major tourist draws of this area.
The exploration of the cenotes and underground rivers of the Riviera Maya began in the early 1980’s, when intrepid divers began to probe their depths. Since that time, in the area now known as the Riviera Maya (south of Cancun), more than 162 cave systems and 653 km of completely flooded cave passageways have been explored and mapped.
Explorers have identified two layers to these cave systems; one extends from the surface to a depth of approximately 20 meters. The other ‘basement’ level is found over 100 meters below the surface. The deepest cave system in our area is the Dos Ojos System with a maximum depth of 119 meters. Seven of the ten longest underground rivers in the world are located in our backyard. The longest of them all, Sistema Ox Bel Ha, is also considered the longest cave (wet or dry) in the Mexican Republic, and the ninth longest cave (wet or dry) on the planet. This is made all the more remarkable when one considers that Ox Bel Ha’s 144 km of passageway are completely flooded and still being explored.
Following in the footsteps of explorers is the scientific community. From the scientist’s perspective, to understand the cenotes is to understand the complex nature of the peninsula. Scientists from almost every discipline are working hard to study the many layers of the Peninsula.
For example, ornithologist
Dr. James Rotenberg of University of North
Carolina is studying the use of cenotes by the more than two billion
(not an exaggeration) migratory birds that cross the Peninsula each
year. Botanist Jason Hblakos of the University of California Riverside
is studying evidence that the ancient Maya cultivated a variety of tree
originally from Oaxaca in the moisture rich environment of the cenotes.
Dr. Fernando Alvarez of UNAM and
Dr. Tom Illiffe of Texas A&M Galveston
are studying the 38 life forms found within these caves systems, linking
them to species from
as far away as the Bahamas. Archeologists Dr. Scott Fedick and Jeffrey Glover, also of U.C. Riverside, are looking at how
cenotes determined early Maya settlement patterns across the area. Cave
archeologist Dr. Dominique Rissolo of San Diego State University is
studying the use of dry caves and cenotes in this area as sacred spaces
by the ancient Maya.
Additionally, Arq. Carmen Rojas and Biologo Arturo Gonzalez are leading the efforts of Mexico’s National Institute for Anthropology and History to study archeological deposits found underwater in the cenotes and caves. What they are bringing to light is absolutely astounding. In the last three years INAH’s Underwater Archeology Unit has positively dated three human skeletons found in the area near Tulum to be older than 10,000 years old. To put that into perspective, until four years ago there were only ten human skeletons in the entire Western Hemisphere that were proven without a doubt to be older than 10,000 years old. Their efforts, in collaboration with the cave diving community, have increased that number by 33%, and the number is sure to rise even higher. If that weren’t enough, one of these skeletons may be 12,000 years old, making her the oldest human yet found in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to these incredible finds, no fewer than five skeletons of prehistoric elephants and many other extinct species of Pleistocene mega fauna have been found deep within our cave systems. Closer to the surface, in the cenotes themselves, important archeological deposits of the ancient Maya are also being found and evaluated. In short, the cenotes are windows back to another time, giving us glimpses of life throughout the ages.
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