[Aztlan] Chichen Itza water sources

[e a]

A couple of picayune corrections to Bruce Rogers' post about
the cenotes of Chichén Itzá: Edward Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from
1904 to 1910, not 1907. There were three so-called SCUBA expeditions, not two,
but the most famous were the latter two that Bruce referred to, in 1961-2 and
1967-8 (not 1971). Both expeditions relied as much on an airlift as divers to recover artifacts. The latter expedition was not organized by Donald Ediger
(who did write a book about it), but by three men: Pablo Bush Romero (Mexican
Ford dealer and founder of CEDAM, who sparked the project and lobbied the
Mexican government), Kirk Johnson (who put up most of the money) and Norman
Scott (who handled all the logistics and execution of the airlift and divers). INAH supervised the expedition.




While chlorination was used to clear the water in that last
expedition, I don’t know what the source is that says the Cenote Sagrado has
not recovered. More importantly, recovered to what? I'm not aware of baseline studies before the expedition or of studies conducted in the almost 40 years since.
 


 
Finally, I'm not certain one can make the assertion that the expeditions in the 1960s were more successful than Thompson's dredging. I suppose it depends upon the definition of success.
Thompson and his dredge recovered more material and more diverse artifacts than
the later expeditions. Of course, he operated his dredge over several years,
while the later expeditions only had a matter of weeks to complete their work



-- EJ Albright

----- Original Message ----
From: Bruce Rogers <bwrogers at dslextreme.com>
To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Sent: Friday, February 1, 2008 5:15:29 AM
Subject: [Aztlan] Chichen Itza water sources


Listeros,

Yes, 
as 
Mary 
Hopkins 
pointed 
out, 
Cenote 
Sacrado 
is 
not 
Chichen 
Itza's 
domestic 
water 
supply. 
Approximately 
a 
kilometer 
to 
the 
south 
is 
Cenote 
Xtoloc, 
also 
known 
as 
the 
Grand 
Cenote, 
that 
was 
the 
main 
domestic 
water 
supply.  
There 
are 
also 
at 
least 
9 
other 
cenotes 
known 
within 
a 
kilometer 
or 
two 
of 
Chichen 
Itza.

The 
"DPW" 
Cenote 
- 
Cenote 
Xtoloc
The 
Cenote 
Xtoloc 
is 
about 
30 
m 
in 
diameter 
at 
the 
water 
line 
and 
about 
20 
m 
deep 
from 
the 
general 
ground 
surface 
to 
the 
waterline. 
Its 
walls 
are 
both 
steep 
with 
vegetation 
and 
soil 
cover 
(the 
east 
and 
south 
walls) 
and 
nearly 
vertical 
bare 
limestone 
(north 
and 
west 
walls).  
The 
large 
pool 
covering 
the 
floor 
of 
the 
cenote 
has 
a 
large 
algae 
mat 
growing 
on 
its 
west 
side, 
but 
no 
larger 
aquatic 
plants 
grow 
in 
the 
pool. 
In 
1936, 
F.G. 
Hall 
and 
others 
reported 
the 
pool 
was 
about 
15.4 
m 
deep 
with 
a 
silty 
bottom.

The 
water 
temperature 
during 
Hall's 
visit 
was 
recorded 
to 
be 
27.3 
degrees 
C 
at 
the 
surface 
and 
21.9 
degrees 
C 
at 
the 
bottom 
of 
the 
pool.  
The 
pH 
averaged 
7.4 
at 
the 
bottom 
(near 
neutral) 
and 
8.6 
at 
the 
pools 
surface 
(somewhat 
alkaline 
due 
to 
dissolved 
limestone). 
The 
cenotes 
pool 
surface 
represents 
a 
"stand 
pipe" 
in 
the 
local 
ground 
water 
table.  
Flow 
across 
the 
cenote 
was 
estimated 
to 
be 
about 
1-2 
m 
a 
year, 
about 
normal 
for 
some 
interior 
karst 
areas 
such 
as 
the 
Florida 
Peninsula, 
but 
extremely 
slow 
compared 
with 
David 
Hixson's 
coastal 
site 
of 
Chunchumil 
and 
the 
more 
interior 
site 
of 
Dzibilchaltun.

A 
rich 
fauna 
was 
collected 
from 
the 
pool 
by 
James 
Reddell 
in 
1973 
and 
included 
aquatic 
invertebrates 
and 
terrestrial 
and 
flying 
insects, 
2 
species 
of 
fish, 
amphibians, 
and 
small 
rodents.

A 
trail 
spirals 
down 
from 
the 
northeast 
corner 
to 
the 
south 
wall; 
this 
trail 
was 
used 
to 
provide 
access 
to 
the 
pool's 
surface 
to 
collect 
water.  
About 
5 
m 
above 
the 
pool 
is 
a 
small 
cave 
in 
the 
south 
wall 
of 
the 
cenote.  
Cueva 
del 
Cenote 
Xtoloc 
is 
about 
90 
m 
long 
and 
consists 
of 
a 
single 
passage 
that 
has 
been 
enlarged 
by 
human 
activity.  
The 
dry 
and 
dusty 
passage 
is 
about 
2-4 
m 
high 
(except 
a 
small 
area 
of 
collapsed 
blocks 
several 
dozen 
meters 
inside 
the 
entrance) 
and 
has 
a 
heavily 
coating 
of 
soot 
in 
its 
ceiling 
from 
long 
term 
use 
by 
torch-bearing 
visitors.

The 
fauna 
of 
this 
cave 
is 
typical 
of 
dry 
caves 
in 
the 
region 
with 
assorted 
invertebrates 
(including 
Tohila 
atelomna, 
a 
blind 
cricket) 
and 
a 
small 
colony 
of 
Common 
Vampire 
Bats 
(Desmodus 
rotundus 
murinus).  
The 
cave 
is 
amazingly 
dry 
and 
the 
bat's 
waste 
products 
do 
not 
enter 
the 
surface 
runoff 
into 
the 
cenote.

It 
appears 
that 
the 
Maya 
used 
this 
cenote 
for 
domestic 
water 
since 
it 
was 
accessible 
and 
apparently 
the 
water 
was 
clean 
at 
the 
time 
of 
major 
use 
of 
the 
site 
by 
the 
Maya 
over 
the 
last 
2700 
years 
as 
it 
is 
today.

The 
Sacred 
Cenote 
- 
Cenote 
Sacrado
The 
somewhat 
oval 
Cenote 
Sacrado 
measures 
about 
56 
m 
by 
65 
m 
and 
its 
depth 
varies 
between 
20 
and 
25 
m, 
depending 
on 
yearly 
rainfall. 
The 
pool 
at 
its 
base 
is 
about 
12 
m 
deep 
and 
the 
bottom 
is 
covered 
with 
a 
10 
to 
20 
m 
thick 
carpet 
of 
detritus.  
The 
walls 
of 
the 
cenote 
are 
essentially 
vertical 
with 
horizontal 
solution 
pockets 
scattered 
at 
various 
depths 
and 
an 
irregular, 
undercut 
notch 
along 
the 
north 
and 
west 
sides 
of 
the 
pool 
at 
the 
water 
line.  
A 
fairly 
extensive 
algae 
mat 
covers 
much 
of 
the 
pool's 
surface 
as 
Sam 
Edgerton 
remarked. 
Water 
temperatures 
are 
similar 
to 
those 
at 
Cenote 
Xtoloc, 
but 
the 
water 
chemistry 
is 
somewhat 
more 
alkaline 
due 
to 
the 
bat 
guano 
that 
constantly 
rains 
down 
into 
the 
pool 
as 
mentioned 
by 
Mary 
Hopkins.

The 
first 
successful 
recovery 
of 
artifacts 
was 
by 
Edward 
H. 
Thompson 
between 
1904 
and 
1907 
using 
a 
dredge.  
Several 
SCUBA 
expeditions 
between 
1961 
and 
1970 
have 
had 
more 
success.  
The 
1971 
expedition 
by 
Ediger 
brought 
in 
a 
large 
chlorination 
plant 
built 
by 
Clorox 
to 
clear 
the 
water.  
While 
this 
did 
help 
the 
visibility 
for 
the 
divers, 
it 
also 
killed 
off 
much 
the 
indigenous 
aquatic 
life 
in 
the 
cenote; 
the 
cenote 
has 
never 
recovered.  
No 
systematic 
study 
has 
been 
made 
of 
the 
cenote, 
but 
sampling 
of 
the 
cenote 
in 
1973 
revealed 
only 
2 
species 
of 
fish, 
turtles, 
frogs, 
and 
American 
Black 
vultures 
(Coragyps 
atratus).

Drains 
and 
Chultuns?
The 
area 
surrounded 
by 
the 
Thousand 
Columns 
Group 
in 
the 
eastern 
restored 
section 
of 
the 
site 
has 
several 
sub-floor 
drains.  
These 
might 
lead 
to 
water 
storage 
chultuns, 
but 
not 
having 
knowledge 
of 
the 
layout 
of 
this 
unexcavated 
part 
of 
the 
site, 
this 
is 
speculation 
on 
my 
part.

Cheers,
Bruce 
Rogers, 
earth 
scientist 
& 
speleologist 
on 
a 
good 
day


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