Their perspectives on what the chultún findings mean — not as definitive interpretive authority over archaeological evidence, but as community members with legitimate interests in how their ancestors’ lives and deaths are represented — are part of the ethical and intellectual context of the research.

A Different Kind of Monument

The excavated pyramids and temples of Chichén Itzá are monuments in the most obvious sense: large, visible, designed to impress and to communicate.

They have been the subject of study and interpretation for more than a century and are among the most recognized architectural achievements of the ancient Americas.

The chultún is a different kind of monument.

It is invisible from the surface.