Subterranean Shrines: Maya Cave Architecture of Coastal Quintana Roo
with Dominique Rissolo, University of California, San Diego
Found in caves along the central coast of Quintana Roo are small shrines that closely resemble the region’s enigmatic Postclassic temples. The presence of shrines and altars in caves serves as compelling and unambiguous evidence for ancient Maya religious practice in these underground spaces. Detailed study of masonry architecture in the caves reveals a strong stylistic and likely functional correspondence between these structures and their terrestrial counterparts at Postclassic sites such as Xamanha, Xcaret, Xelha, Tancah, and Tulum. The Proyecto Arquitectura Subterranea de Quintana Roo (coordinated by the Cultural Heritage Engineering Initiative at UC San Diego) is conducting a survey and program of digital documentation of cave shrines in the region. Comparative analyses across terrestrial and subterranean environments provide insights into the form, function, and meaning Postclassic cave architecture in the northeastern Maya lowlands.
Dr. Dominique Rissolo has been conducting archaeological cave investigations in Mexico since 1995 with a focus on how the ancient Maya conceptualized, transformed, and interacted with subterranean environments. In addition to his recent and ongoing research on cave architecture in Quintana Roo, Dominique’s interests include Paleoamerican cenote use as well as Pre-Columbian coastal human ecology on the Yucatan Peninsula. After receiving his Ph.D. in Anthropology from UC Riverside, Dominique went on to teach at San Diego State University and later directed research and grant programs at the Waitt Institute and with the National Geographic Society. Dominique is currently an associate research scientist with the Cultural Heritage Engineering Initiative at the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego and is a co-director of the Hoyo Negro Project and the Costa Escondida Project.
