LOCATION FILE
Sacred Cenote, Chichén Itzá
FOLLOWTinum, YUC
DIRECTIONS →OVERVIEW
A limestone sinkhole about sixty metres across at the north end of Chichén Itzá, its sheer walls dropping some twenty metres to the water. The Maya understood cenotes as openings to Xibalba and cast offerings here to the rain god Chaac, particularly in drought.
REPORTED ACTIVITY
Edward Herbert Thompson began dredging the cenote in 1904 and later dived it himself, recovering gold and copper ornaments, jade, turquoise, ceramics, copal, textiles and carved wood along with the remains of more than 200 people. Early accounts of sacrificed maidens proved wrong: the dead include men, women and many children. A 2024 ancient-DNA study found the sacrificed children were mostly boys, several closely related, including sets of identical twins.
VISITING
Within the Chichén Itzá archaeological zone, open to the public; swimming is prohibited.
SITE PLAN
UPLOAD A PLANNo plan on file yet.
A plan of the building or grounds is what a second team opens on a phone in the dark. Going there? Volunteer to map it, then upload your plan.
EXTERNAL RESOURCES
Curated references and articles coming soon.
INVESTIGATION RECORD
0 GROUPS · 0 VISITS
No group has logged an investigation here yet.
HISTORICAL RECORD · 0 CITED ENTRIES
SIGN IN TO CONTRIBUTENo cited entries yet. Deeds, newspaper reports, census lines, photographs, ledgers — anything with a source.
COMMUNITY EVIDENCE
SIGN IN TO VIEWEvidence filed at this location — photos, recordings, documents, notes — is visible to signed-in investigators.
GROUP FINDINGS