Cenotes

THE Yucatan peninsula's bedrock is a porous limestone that formed during the last 60 million years. It is a thick layer of sediment now solidifed into limestone. The result of such porous ground, also called, karst terrain, is that the formation of perennial surface water such as rivers or lakes, never happened.

The rain that does fall in the region quickly percolates deep into the limestone. Over time, this mildly acidic rainwater eats away at the peninsula's fractured limestone bedrock, creating underground caves. With time, the roofs of these caves collapse, exposing subterranean water sources ranging from small caverns that link into vast underwater cave networks to large, sun-filled basins that can begin a hundred feet below the surface. Cenotes have been very important in the Yucatan history until today. Because of the lack of rivers and lakes, the ancient Maya took their water from cenotes. These fresh water wells were important in the Mayan religion, being the home of gods, Xibalba, God of the Underworld. Some experts think humans were thrown into the cenotes as sacrifices.

But why, would the so advanced people that formed the civilization of the peninsula, poison their own fresh water supply by throwing their dead in the cenotes? Still a mistery.

Ancient Artifacts

Today, underwater archeological teams are discovering many Mayan artifacts in the cenotes and divers are enjoying exploring the Yucatan's cenotes and underground rivers. Historians have been arguing about the reason for the disapearance of such a rich and dense population that thrived on the Mezoamerican continent until the Middle Ages. One hypothesis is drought. A period of extended drought could wipe out an entire civilization. Water is the source of life and needs our constant attention. Today, the state of Quintana Roo is enforcing the protection of its rich resources and educating the populationas on the right way to use and maintain their fragile ecosystem.

There are thousands of cenotes registered throughout the Yucatán Peninsula.

In the Yucatan, the sinkholes were part of the lives of the ancient Mayan people. They not only provided their water source but were revered as entrances to the underworld, and the ancients threw gold, jade and maybe even sacrificed bodies into them. Their Mayan derivation, dzonot, also means sacred well.