Abstract
Abstract. The presence of ancient Maya shrines in caves serves as unequivocal evidence for the ritual appropriation of these subterranean spaces and their significance with respect to Maya religious practice. Detailed study of the miniature masonry temples and altar features in the caves of Quintana Roo, Mexico reveals a strong stylistic and likely functional correspondence between these structures and their terrestrial counterparts at Postclassic sites. The Proyecto Arquitectura Subterranea de Quintana Roo (coordinated by the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture, and Archaeology, or CISA3, at the University of California, San Diego and in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia in Mexico) is conducting a survey and program of digital documentation of both the pristine and impacted cave shrines of the region. Once an area is developed and populated, and access is opened to caves containing ancient architectural features, they are soon vandalized – often resulting in the complete obliteration of these rare miniature buildings and their diagnostic architectural elements. This emergent situation necessitates the use of rapid reality-capture tools; however, the physical challenges of working in caves requires researchers of adapt increasingly common architectural documentation methodologies to more adverse field conditions.
Highlights
Miniature versions of Postclassic Maya temples are commonly referred to as shrines, and the siting of these shrines inside caves was a tradition unique to the central east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (Figure 1)
The presence of ancient Maya shrines in caves serves as unequivocal evidence for the ritual appropriation of these subterranean spaces and their significance with respect to Maya religious practice
The focus of our fieldwork efforts has been on the rapid documentation and digital preservation of cave architecture in response to threats to Mexico’s subterranean cultural heritage, and potential for these data to be applied to comparative analyses of surface and subsurface ceremonial architecture
Summary
Miniature versions of Postclassic Maya temples are commonly referred to as shrines, and the siting of these shrines inside caves was a tradition unique to the central east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (Figure 1). Most readily identifiable are the mouldings that crown the temple buildings as well as the inset panels above temple doorways These cave shrine sites reside within one of the most rapidly expanding tourism zones in North America, placing innumerable archaeological structures at risk. The focus of our fieldwork efforts has been on the rapid documentation and digital preservation of cave architecture in response to threats to Mexico’s subterranean cultural heritage, and potential for these data to be applied to comparative analyses of surface and subsurface ceremonial architecture.
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