Reinterpreting Ancient Sacred Space: Place, Phenomenology, and Making in Tulum, Mexico

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Reinterpreting Ancient Sacred Space:

PLACE, PHENOMENOLOGY, AND MAKING IN TULUM, MEXICO Jenna Renée Ims Masters Research Project - Spring 2022

Jenna Renée Ims Master of Architecture Chair: John Maze Co-Chair: Charlie Hailey Member: Albertus Wang

A Masters Research Project presented to the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Florida in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Architecture, Spring 2022.

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT PREFACE INTRODUCTION ANCIENT SACRED SPACE ECO-MIRAGE PARADISE IN PERIL CALL TO ACTION PLACE (I) GENIUS LOCI DWELLING APPLICATION TO THE MAYA SEEDLING OF CIVILIZATION PLACEMAKING INTERSECTING IMPORTANCE FLOW OF WATER PHENOMENOLOGY (II) EXPERIENCE + STATE OF BEING RELIGION + SETTING THE LIVING EARTH THE MAYA WORLDVIEW CYCLE OF LIFE SERPENT OF LIGHT + SHADOW EL CARACOL VITALITY OF VENUS RED STAR’S REVENGE RITUAL ASSEMBLAGE COMPONENTS OF RITUAL MAKING (III) ARCHITECTURAL ARTIFACT CONTEXT THE BIRTH OF A PARTI TOUCHING THE SKY TOUCHING THE WATER CONCLUSION (IV) LIST OF FIGURES BIBLIOGRAPHY

II IV VI VIII 2 4 8 10 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 32 36 40 42 44 46 49 50 52 54 56 60 62 64 66 80 88 92 96 100 104

First and foremost, I would like to share my deepest gratitude to my loved ones for their continuous support and encouragement throughout my architectural education journey—You all have believed in my dream of becoming an architect ever since I finished that Etch-A-Sketch drawing as a child.

Secondly, I would like express my appreciation to my committee chair, Professor John Maze, for always being on board with my occasional outlandish ideas and helping me string them along in a way that conveys what I am at times unable to say. He continually conveyed a spirit of exploration in regard to the research and development of this Masters Research Project. I will forever be thankful for your mentorship and friendship.

Furthermore, I extend my thanks to my Co-Chair, Professor Charlie Hailey, and committee member, Professor Albertus Wang, for their insightful guidance along the way. They both caused me to question, re-examine, and dig deeper into subject matters relating to this project.

Additionally, I thank Professor Lisa Huang for keeping me on track and guiding me through this process. You pushed me in ways that led me to expand my research for the better.

Lastly, I would like to thank the University of Florida for eternally shaping my perception of the world through architectural curriculum. I could not have imagined attending any other university for the past six years. I have been challenged, I have learned, and I have grown as a Gator.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

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Sacred spaces hold meaning relative to a particular place and people.

Civilizations over the history of time have designated sacrality to such places, landscapes, and even artifacts, and it is vital that they are preserved and their importance echoed even as their purpose and memory fade. This research project investigates ancient sacred geography in Tulum, Mexico, their inherent value to the Maya, and the ritual activities that took place within these underground cavities called cenotes. The current underutilization as sacred space and overutilization as eco-tourism meccas poses the challenge of how to occupy and reinterpret these important cultural landscapes in a world where they appear as merely an Instagram backdrop. By analyzing the ancient Maya worldview, their practices and placemaking strategies, surveying other sacred spaces, and implementing various theories of phenomenology, this project takes a holistic approach on how to appropriately experience these sacred cenotes. Adding cultural meaning and memory to the contemporary experience of these spaces might not only reframe our understanding of them, but it also reflects upon what it means to be human and the relationship between our bodies, the landscape, and the cosmos.

PREFACE Within the collapse of the landscape, lies a world beneath Stones of corten steer you into the mouth of the unknown It is damp, cool; Stalactites droop from the ceiling Staglamites pierce through the shallow water.

The path then engulfs you, moving swiftly past an alter, sitting just below the natural aperature A collection of artifacts are left for the Gods.

The corner turns and the shadows suddenly consume the awareness of your body in space.

The occasional drip, drip of water and flutter of bats is all that reverberates throughout.

It is dark and desolate; eerie and bleak.

The path ascends slightly before cliffing to an edge; terracing platforms hover so low that each step causes ripples over the surface.

You descend back down before being greeted by the light seeping through the collapsed limestone ceiling; Green and wispy palm trees rising above the cenote.

The path breaks and pulls again, you follow its rhythm across the water and back onto the promenade.

It meanders Left

Right

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Before creeping past the crevice and through the clausterphobic void.

You are back, at ground level, But not quite.

The catwalk doesn’t touch the ground; It pulls you deeper into the jungle through the sea of trees until it meets a set of stairs.

Up and around moments of pause along the procession and through the fog; Only the chirp of birds and railing guiding you.

When you reach the top, the mist evaporates and the trees are still; The faint line of the horizon is lit by the sun’s impending arrival beyond the ocean’s scope and from the underworld.

For a moment, Venus shines brighter.

INTRODUCTION

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FIGURE (1).

Photo of Tulum’s ruins showing it an an ancient fortress city. By author.

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ANCIENT SACRED SPACE One of Mexico’s hidden gems, Tulum is an ancient Mayan city located on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Occupied as early as 1200AD, Tulum remained a thriving sea and land port for nearly 300 years. Coined “Tulum” by explorers John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood during their travels through the Yucatan in 1841, the name was translated from Yucatec to mean “wall”, referring to its stone fortress (Stephens, 1843). Although Tulum’s massive coral reef and rocky cliffs offered some natural defense against rival tribes and the conquistadors, this pre-Columbian city was the only walled city in the Mayan Civilization with a large stone fortress on its Northern, Western and Southern borders (Figure 1). Tulum’s prime location on the sea meant that it participated in maritime trade, acting as a threshold between land and sea commerce. Also referred to as “Zama”, Tulum was known as the land of the rising sun for the Maya, a symbolic name for their ritualized lives. Mostly an agrarian society, the fertile land outside the stone fortress was perfect for growing maize.

Yet, this water-intensive crop was still volatile to weather patterns and rainfall; as was the availability of their drinking water.

Unique to the Mayan Civilization, it is one of the only to have not existed alongside a river or major freshwater resource. Instead, the Maya relied on the grace of their rain God, Chaak, who was thought to reside in the underworld where rainwater is gathered in natural deep water wells, made of eroded limestone, called cenotes (Figures 2 and 3). These eerie but beautiful caverns are a few of approximately six thousand in the Yucatan region, and many have yet to be discovered (Kuhlman, Brumels, Gates, Schwartz, & Gara, 2015). Cenotes are perhaps one of the lesser known yet highly significant aspects of Mayan life, as these natural wonders played a major role in their spiritual lives and their longevity as a civilization. Mayans ritualized these underground sinkholes, performing human sacrifice and shattering artifacts as an offering to appease the higher powers and yield good fortune.

These cenotes and the ritual activities that took place in them reinforce the idea that they served as sacred space for the Maya, offering insight into their very values and beliefs (Turner, Abrahams, & Harris, 1969).

FIGURE (2).

“Well of Bolochen”. Illustration by Frederick Catherwood and Owen Jones. (Catherwood, 1844).

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FIGURE (3).

Photograph by Bobo and ChiChi. Cenote Suytun, Valladolid, Mexico.

(Bobo and Chichi, 2018)

Once a remote backpacking city with only ruins in Mexico’s Quintana Roo region, Tulum has exploded over recent years, becoming a hotspot for social media influencers and those seeking a transient bohemian escape. Marketing ecotourism, spiritual retreats and a unique party scene, Tulum offers a variety of experiences. Pristine beaches, whimsical architecture, jungle house music, and extravagant cuisine and cocktails, Tulum has become a Gringo’s paradise, touting escapism and a bohemian spirit for those affluent enough to travel there (Figure 4). This influx of people over the years to this remote region has resulted in the rapid development of Tulum, and Tulum’s infrastructure is desperate to keep up (Marin, 2007, p. 57).

Lacking a proper transportation hub such as an airport, travelers and locals must rely on automobile transportation to reach its shores.

This holds contradictory to the sustainable oasis that it boasts. The quandary doesn’t stop there either as Tulum’s eco-resorts actively greenwash much of its appeal, falsely advertising a sustainable practices and lifestyle (Morgan, 2019, p. 13). Overzealous developers are destroying much of the surrounding rainforests and failing to build proper infrastructure to support this kind of expeditious expansion, contaminating the very attractions that make Tulum the magical place that it is: the cenotes (Figure 5) (Jackson, 2021).

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ECO-MIRAGE

FIGURE (4).

Photo showing Azulik, a premier eco-tourism resort. (Azulik, 2022).

PARADISE IN PERIL FIGURE (5).

Tulum Landfill showing deforestation of jungle.

Photo provided by Rachel Appel. (The Dark Side of Tulum, 2019).

Tulum’s only precious water source, the cenotes are in peril of dying. Improper sanitation infrastructure means that human waste is being dumped directly into the ecosystem, passing the torch of responsibility to Mother Nature herself.

The oceans, the mangroves swamps, and the underground river are all being contaminated (Figure 6). These poor practices are part of a larger vicious cycle. Majority of the resorts lack proper water treatment such as septic tanks, resorting instead to illegal wastewater dumping (The Dark Side of Tulum, 2019). Not only are these practices grotesque, but they have detrimental consequences on the surrounding environment as human fecal matter creeps its way into the region’s drinking and potable water, and hence, FIGURE (6).

Illustration showing the process of contamination of precious resources. By author.

the cenotes. A combination of fecal matter and various chemicals has also contributed to coral bleaching of Tulum’s barrier reef off the coast (The Dark Side of Tulum, 2019). To make matters worse, ceaseless construction of new condominiums and resorts are destroying mangroves, nature’s natural filtration system and the only barrier remaining between contaminants and the Riviera Maya’s natural resources. Moreover, the cenotes increasing popularity among tourists means that the tourists themselves are directly contributing to OCEAN their devastation.

CONTAMINATION

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MANGROVE FILTRATION + CONTAMINATION

POOR WASTEWATER DUMPING PRACTICES

AQUIFER CONTAMINATION

CENOTE CONTAMINATION

Despite the apparent harm that development and tourism has caused to the cenotes and adjacent ecosystems of Tulum, the proliferation of tourists within the cenotes continues. The cenotes have become a bucket-list, instagram-tour-must as they flood these sacred spaces to get that ‘one pic’.

How can the cenotes be occupied in a meaningful way that honors them as sacred space for the Maya while serving the desires of tourists?

The problem is clearly illustrated in Figure (7) where the geotag of various cenotes in Tulum become an endless feed of instagram models taking sexy photos in a bikini with no realization that these picturesque backdrops are actually ancient sacred geography.

Perhaps it is no fault of their own and just another symptom of the Age of Technology, however, it begs the question that there must be another way to experience these cenotes.

It also raises questions of another occupant: the Maya.

The contemporary Maya still live in this region of Mexico, and in fact, they have benefited tremendously from the economic prosperity that these tourists have brought to the region.

Where is the line drawn?

Do the Maya still occupy these spaces? Are they still considered sacred? How do they utilize these spaces today? How did they occupy them in the past? Are there archaeological assembleges of offerings present in these cenotes? Should they be protected?

Should cenotes be occupied at all?

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FIGURE (7).

Instagram geolocation showing how tourists currently inhabit cenotes. By author.

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CALL TO ACTION Given the historical and cultural significance and the contemporary lure of the cenotes, there needs to be delicate attention paid to balancing the two. In order to preserve the memory of them in the eyes of the Maya as well as carefully utilize them for the demands of modern society, this research will attempt a holistic approach to capturing and analyzing place and experiencing sacred space as a means to inform an overall idea of making and carefully intervening in the cenotes. Tulum makes for an interesting condition for research given its Mayan roots, colonial past, and the current acceleration of development. By understanding Maya culture and documenting various experienced phenomena, Tulum’s essence reveals itself, acting as a guide for architectural intervention within its appropriate context. Capturing experience in such a way does not tell the story in its entirety, however, this

paper will attempt to document and translate the lived experience and spirit of place through a series of poems, photographs, diagrams and made and found artifacts which allow for the architecturalization of impending themes.

Throughout this process, documentation, ritual, and collection will be vital in forming ideas and interpretations. This research will attempt to summarize ideas about place, phenomenology, and making with the intention of creating an architectural artifact within these sacred spaces that preserve memory and embodies the spirit of place in a rapidly developing Tulum.

I. PLACE

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“To dwell means to belong to a given place.”

-CHRISTIAN NORBERG-SCHULZ

GENIUS LOCI Architecture often meanders in the realm of place and place-making. Capturing the spirit of place, or genius loci, entails both subjective and objective analysis, leading to a deeper understanding of the place itself. The place inherently holds its essence, giving purpose to the place-making. But to make architecture involves both the analysis of place and the physical act of making. Making then becomes a reflection of the place, observed and documented, carrying the architectural concept to its conception. This made artifact should then embody the place as well as the human experience, interpreting stimuli while forming impactful architecture, full of ephemerality (Figure 8).

The place of inquiry, along with the people and systems that inhabit it, hold meaning in the broader context of our existence. Furthermore, our existence is grounded in place and that place’s phenomena. Christian Norberg-Schulz, renowned architect and architectural theorist summarizes the importance of place best when he explains,

A concrete term for environment is place. It is common usage to say that acts and occurrences take place. In fact, it is meaningless to image any happening without reference to a locality.

Place is evidently an integral part of existence (Norberg-Schulz, 1979, p. 6).

It is true, without place, there is no frame of reference for daily life, activity, or memory.

Architect Bernard Tschumi has a similar take on architectural discourse: it cannot occur without space and event (Tschumi, Spaces and Events, 1975, p. 139). It is not abstract, nor

FIGURE (8).

Light Phenomena in Tulum Restaurant.

Photograph by Pepe Molina.

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FIGURE (9).

Stair in jungle.

Photograph by BeTulum Hotel.

is it mere imagination, but rather a compilation of many distinct factors and things that construct a place and its essence. Place can be composed in different contexts—landscapes, cities, suburbs, natural, man-made, and even ones conceived in the imagination of storytelling. These quantitative aspects imply the inherent structure of place. Structure of place ought to be described in terms of landscape as landscape encompasses many multitudes of scale and structure (Norberg-Schulz, 1979, p. 11). But when one’s existence and place

are combined, the phenomenology of place emerges. Phenomenology is simply the philosophy of our lived experience, and being that we are mortal beings, place plays a vital role in grounding that existence. “Grounding” is another important theme: the plane of our existence and the place in which we dwell can be divided and explained by clear concepts of “Earth” and “sky” (Figure 9).

DWELLING Norberg-Schulz summarizes and further resolves famed phenomenologist Martin Heidegger’s ideas on place and existence, denoted simply as our “dwelling” between Earth and Sky:

Its importance however comes out when we add Heidegger’s definition of “dwelling”: “The way in which you are and I am, the way in which we humans are on the earth, is dwelling…”. But “on the earth” already means “under the sky”. He also calls what is between earth and sky the world, and says that “the world is the house where mortals dwell”. In other words, when man is capable of dwelling the world becomes an “inside”. In general, nature forms an extended comprehensive totality, a “place”, which according to local circumstances has a particular identity.

(Norberg-Schulz, 1979, p. 10)

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To his point, the particular identity of place is what distinguishes it from the next. Our experience of the world forms our perception of place and genius loci. This qualitative approach to place captures the lived experience but also breathes a life of its own. “Character is determined by how things are, and it gives our investigation a basis in the concrete phenomena of our everyday life-world. Only in this way we may fully grasp the ‘genius loci’ or the ‘spirit of place’ says Norberg-Schulz (Norberg-Schulz, 1979, pp. 10-11). Understanding a place’s inherent atmosphere implies a dive into how things are and even how things are made. It is only then that the full character of place is revealed and might be re-implemented to create new, or as architect Louis Kahn puts it, what a place “wants to be” (Norberg-Schulz, 1979, p. 18). But furthermore, humans have untold influence on shaping this atmosphere through interpretation and intervention. It is that distinct spirit of place that drives travel from afar as humans are intrigued by the narrative and essence of such places (Norberg-Schulz, 1979, p. 18).

Of which, is more the reason to preserve a place’s genius loci from influences that are a detriment to its character.

This then applies to the ancient Maya, as the setting for their existence ultimately shaped the way in which they dwelled here on Earth.

Their immediate surroundings, resources, and experiences influenced their daily lives and beliefs. The place that they existed in was lush and dense, but often unforgiving and brutal (Figure 10). They had to interpret both the events that took place and the place itself in order to give meaning to their existence.

Perhaps game in the jungle was fruitful, but rainfall, and hence their drinking water, was not always. Given varying circumstances, the Maya had to draw conclusions for why life was the way it was, mythologizing phenomena as a means of explaining them. In Norberg-Schultz way of understanding, the “structure” of the place (properties of a system of relationships) allows for the interpretation and application of “meaning” to their existence (Norberg-Schulz, 1979).

Only when the ancient Maya reached the capabilities of clearing the jungle to build their pyramids did the sky become important to explaining their daily lives. From then on, they used the planets, sun, and the moon to guide their place-making and ceremonial activity through “the geometric organization of space along strictly controlled axial arrangements” (Marc Whitley Architectural Narrative through Spatial Sequencing). The structures of their environment had expanded to include new phenomena, and the Maya compensated for these changes through the way in which they told stories and shaped their new built environments.

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APPLICATION TO THE MAYA

FIGURE (10).

“Castle at Tulum”. Illustration by Frederick Catherwood and Owen Jones. (Catherwood, 1844).

Documentation of ancient Maya cities and ruins was not accounted for until the 1800’s when American writer and explorer John Lloyd Stephens, accompanied by English architect Frederick Catherwood, traveled the Yucatan of Mexico for nearly four years, drawing and writing about their experiences through the region. Their journey, detailed in “Incidents of Travel in Yucatan”, is perhaps one of the most famous anecdotal accounts for seeing and observing both Maya people and place prior to our understanding of them as archaeological sites and a fringe population of modern day Mexico. Because of their work, the rest of the world was able to recognize the grandeur and merit of the Maya as one of the great ancient civilizations (Andrews, 1975, p. 3). Only through decades of excavations are we able to fully understand Maya placemaking since much of their history had been eradicated. These intensive excavations revealed not only monumental pyramids and ceremonial centers, but they also showed signs of more simple dwellings and landscape interventions that would be associated with secular life. It is vital to understanding both kinds of placemaking as an effort to expand upon the Maya worldview.

By studying both their mundane acts of marking the landscape as well as their expressive efforts to triumph the natural environment, we can assess the process of place.

Since the Maya were agrarian people, they relied on the land to provide their natural resources for survival, following in suit of the predominant requirement of civilizations: the cultivation of land. In particular, they used an agricultural practice of clearing a plot of land through felling and burning. These clearings, called milpas, allowed for subsistence farming

of maize (Andrews, 1975, p. 10). This semi-annual process of clearing and yielding the land meant that the Maya became manipulators of their environment, taking from it plot by plot what they needed for survival (Figure 11). The thin soil and limestone substratum reciprocated inconsistent outcomes, signaling the need for divine intervention. Yet the fundamentality of these open spaces indicates that they were most likely sacred for these ancient

Although these milpas had no indication of significant architecture, only huts, it became the primordial plaza prototype for which they organized their ceremonial open spaces (Andrews, 1975, p. 10). peoplesThis assertion is not certain, however, it is possible that such humble beginnings led to the realization of man’s power to dominate nature, and it was up to the Maya to formalize ways to offer it back.

The Mayan built environment, or what we imagine when we think of their cities, is far more complex in nature; yet they all hold consistent elements organized around the principle of an open plaza. One of the many hierarchical orders that the Maya followed, the plaza is first and foremost the foundational space of urban organization, acting as the datum for which all other axes and important civic buildings are strung along. Artificially leveled and paved, it serves as the pinnacle for community life, much like the contemporary interpretation of the term today. Plazas served other functions as well, acting as the vial for capturing rainwater and the filtered threshold for reservoirs beneath the paved surface—a

24 necessity during dry season (Andrews, 1975, p. 37). Second was the terrace, a paved and artificial change in elevation, that was often used as a mechanism to contain large portions of earth. Similar to the terrace is the platform, a series of smaller changes in elevation made out of masonry, indicating a higher level of importance to a preceding an architectural element. The courtyard deviates from the previous two as it is “defined solely by the virtue of buildings or walls which surround it” (Andrews, 1975, p. 38). The causeway is categorized as a paved and graded, rising slightly above the ground like a road and edged by a short parapet wall, and these are thought to carry important processional functions. All of these elements precede architecture, yet they are the organizing structures for which Maya urban space is organized.

SEEDLING OF CIVILIZATION

FIGURE (11).

Diagram showing the life cycle of milpa farming. By author.

Forest to the Field Field to the Orchard

THE MILPA CYCLE

Orchard to the Forest Garden

Forest Regeneration

The building orientations and organization are among the most interesting attributes to Maya urbanization given their precision and relationship with both celestial objects and the landscape. In fact, “deviations from magnetic north are no more than eight to ten degrees”, however, the natural magnetic declination accounts for about the same measure (Andrews, 1975, p. 53). For the Maya, the architecture of their most prestigious buildings is a direct expression of their belief system as religious architecture is keenly tied with phenomena and the build environment was integrated with the movement of celestial objects (Stone, 1992).

The capital of Teotihuacan poses an interesting example of this in terms of urban planning and processional datums. Home to the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid and Square of the Moon, and the temple of Quetzalcoatl, the city is laid out along a north to south oriented processional avenue called “Causeway of the Dead” (Stierlin, 1968, p. 105). The symmetrical nature of the pyramids is offset by the asymmetrical preference to the

East side of the processional axis, including Teotihuacan’s most dominant structure: The Pyramid of the Sun (Figure 12). Its eastern preference is most likely due to the fact that the sun rose out of the east each morning whereas the Square of the Moon dead-ends the “Causeway of the Dead”—its reason for orientation is unknown. This conjunction of architectural elements, however, has a special plan with a dozen platforms and a central platform at the foot of the pyramid itself. This hierarchical organization indicates a sort of congregational worship and function of space (Stierlin, 1968, p. 99). In addition to the orientation, size, and layout of these pyramid, the processional avenue is built at a slope, divided into steps which rise at the intersection of various pyramids and buildings along its path. Because of its angle and direction, the Causeway of the Dead can be thought of as more of a vector than an axis, guiding and elevating the inhabitant towards the centerpiece of the Square and Pyramid of the Moon (Stierlin, 1968, p. 107).

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PLACEMAKING

FIGURE (12).

Diagram of important pyramids and the processional avenue of of Teotihuacan.

(Stierlin, 1968, p. 107).

INTERSECTING IMPORTANCE

CENOTE HOLTUN

CENOTE XTOLOC

CENOTE SAGRADO

28 The night sky and astronomical phenomena were not the only influential factors organizing the great Maya cites. The terrestrial focus of Maya religious and spiritual life meant that they treated the ground to be equally, if not more, sacred than the rest. Dramatic landforms served as portals for communication and places for pleasing these supernatural beings (Stone, 1992). Beneath many of these monumental pyramids were thought to have been built over or aligned with cenotes, including Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza famously has a mature cenote just north of El Castillo, known as the Sacred Cenote, or Cenote Sagrado. For many years, little was known about its relationship with the Chichen Itza ruins other than that it was used in ceremonial sacrifice. John L. Stephen describes his experience seeing it for the first time his writings “Incidents of Travel in

Setting out from the Castillo, we ascended a wooden elevation, which seemed an artificial causeway leading to the cenote. In the midst of a thick forest, an immense circular hole, with cragged, perpendicular sides, trees growing out of them and overhanging the brink. A hawk was sailing around it, looking down into the water, but without once flapping its wings, (Stephens, 1843).

CENOTE KANJUYUM

FIGURE (13).

Diagram showing El Castillo and the direct intersection of four cenotes. By author.

This giant cavern is one of four visible ones relating to the ruins: Sacred Cenote to the North, Kanjuyum to the East, Xtoloc to the South, and Holtun to the West (Figure 14). Discovered within the past decade, Holtun was the key to understanding the Maya relationship of water and place making as the sun’s zenith carves a direct path from El Castillo’s sides and into the small perforation of Holtun, illuminating the cavity inside with ephemeral light (Kuhlman, Brumels, Gates, Schwartz, & Gara, 2015). Such an astronomical alignment would have not occurred by chance as the Maya were skilled astronomers. Collectively, these four cenotes create a diamond shape on the landscape with El Castillo sitting almost perfectly at the junction of their alignment (Figure 13). Notably, this discovery has confirmed the notion that nearly all Mayan cities are dictated by the location of water, making cenotes central to the planning and organization of their urban centers (Kuhlman, Brumels, Gates, Schwartz, & Gara, 2015).

However, the slight deviation of El Castillo from the true intersection of the cenotes points to something else. Archaeologists have detected signs of a fifth cenote relating to Chichen Itza, directly underneath El Castillo, accounting for this misalignment. The advancement of technology and techniques such as the electrical resistance survey which uses a series of ground-penetrating electrical currents, enabling researcher René Chavez to create three-dimensional representations of these large cavities beneath the pyramid (Figure 14). Where there are low resistivity levels, the presence of water is assumed. Under this pyramid, there is an area of low resistivity measuring 20 meters by 16 meters, and it is estimated to be 20 meters deep (Chavez, Tejero-Andrade, Cifuentes, Argote-Espino, & Hernández-Quintero, 2018). Gaining access still proves to be a challenge, however, as the Maya have seemed to block access to it from the underground tunnels and chambers when they abandoned the city. Yet, their presence only reinforces the vitality of the cenotes to Maya Civilization because, without them, they might cease to exist.

FIGURE (14).

Illustration showing the detection of water underneath El Castillo. (Chavez, Tejero-Andrade, Cifuentes, Argote-Espino, & Hernández-Quintero, 2018)

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FLOW OF WATER Sigurd Bergmann poetically elaborates on the importance of cenotes to Maya urbanization and placemaking in the chapter “Cities on the Streams of Gods: Wandering in Mayan Sacred Geography” in his book, “Religion, Space, and the Environment”. Bergmann claims that sometimes cenotes dictate plans for larger settlements. The Maya marked the landscape with intention, relating their religious structures and main axes to cenotes. Not only did this provide an organizational structure to their cities, but it also created a sense of procession to these spiritual realms (Figure 15). Whereas Chichen Itza and El Castillo are organized at the direct intersection of cenotes and have a hierarchical processional avenue to the Sacred Cenote, cities like Mayapán feature a constructed wall at the cenote’s very opening, defining the boundary between natural and built environments (Bergmann, p. 103).

These processional avenues reached far beyond the boundaries of their urban centers as people from far lands would make their way to this sacred geography to partake in ritual and pilgrimage. Chichen Itza’s sacred cenote would have been a place of mass pilgrimage, and much of the city’s political and economic power “was grounded in the force of this holy spring” as it was believed that one could encounter such a powerful deity in the underworld (Bergmann, p. 104). Supporting this would be the mass grave of sacrificial and

ceremonial deposits of artifacts, sometimes being traced from lands as far as Guatemala and Colombia (Bergmann, p. 105). Sigurd Bergmann says, “these pilgrimages likely led to a complex network of paths and places throughout the country. Central to the pilgrim landscape were the locations of caves and cenotes because, to the Mayans, they were inhabited by the rain and other water divinities,” (Bergmann, p. 105).

Travel to and through this sacred geography would have also sustained an economic trading system for the Maya. The importance of bringing people and things to the Maya heartland allowed for the stability of their cities for hundreds of years. The complex underground river is what led them there, and the resources and purpose it provided sustained it.

Thus, the Mayan sacred geography (and urbanization) was directly connected to the flow of water. The land was a body, and its mouth the opening of the well. Through this mouth, passage into the spiritual underworld was possible, (Bergmann, p. 105).

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FIGURE (15). Illustration by Eduardo Vargas Montero conveying an inverted Mayan pyramid, creating a well and connecting the cultural landscape to the underworld, Xibalba.

FIGURE (16).

Photo of Cenote Sagrado, the Sacred Well at Chichen Itza.

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Given the extensive survey of Maya placemaking and its various influences, it must be pointed out that these places would still lack meaning without the people and practices that occurred within them. Andrea Stone elaborates this notion when she says, “While religious precepts certainly formed the shaped the form of the Mesoamerican city, it is also true that actual behavior played a part in its development” (Stone, 1992, p. 111). Among the numerous man-made and natural landscapes that the Maya denoted as sacred, the religious ceremony and ritual that took place in caves and cenotes asserts its significance over the rest. Not only were these reserves for their only source of precious drinking water, but they also held important cultural meaning to the Maya people (Figure 16). John L. Stephens describes the experience and sacrificial function of the Sacred Cenote (also known as the Cenote of Sacrifice) of Chichen Itza the best:

The water was a greenish hue.

A mysterious influence seemed to pervade it, in unison with the historical account that the well of Chichen was a place of pilgrimage, and that human victims were thrown into it in sacrifice. In one place, one the very brink, were the remains of a stone structure, probably connected with ancient superstitious rites; perhaps the place from which the victims were thrown into the dark well beneath. (Stephens, 1843)

II. PHENOMENOLOGY

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EXPERIENCE + STATE OF BEING Phenomenology is the philosophy of lived experience. It requires both conscious sensation and interpretation and your bodily vessel and movement through space. Concerning sacred space, it becomes important in asserting why some spaces are deemed sacred and other mundane.

To define sacred space through phenomenology, one must look at experiencing architecture through three different scales of phenomenological experience; one that establishes a divine set of criteria for how the Maya may have experienced and utilized the cenotes.

Studying the phenomenology of ancient people’s dives into their broad perspective and purpose of their existence on Earth. It is the accumulation of various factors, including their religious beliefs, expressions, and behaviors. All of which reflect the way in which they interpreted their experience here on Earth. The illustrations, writing, and artifacts that they left behind become the palimpsest of this and begin to fill in the gaps of collective memory. Although we cannot be certain of the past, inferences made through phenomenological methods give us better insight into the possibilities. The phenomenology of the Maya include their worldview, how they tracked time in space, the stories they told, and the ritual activities that followed it.

The ancient Maya have been misunderstood for centuries given the perception of them to be ruthless savages, conducting human sacrifice and engaging in violent warfare. This impression of them fails to uncover the whole story of their existence as one of six of the cradles of civilization. The Maya were much more than blood-thirsty barbarians; they were able to accomplish impressive feats in architecture, astronomy, mathematics, and language. All of this, however, cannot be acknowledged without grasping the Maya worldview. In fact, it is impossible to imagine understanding anything about our perception of them without first understanding their perception of themselves.

Deep thinkers, the physical artifacts that the ancient Maya civilization left behind give some insight their spiritual and political lives.

Deciphering these messages is no simple task given that those who attempt to uncover their secrets are not their intended audience. Translations are still inferences, and as observers of this ancient civilization, there are limitations to understanding the true Maya experience and perspective (Houston, 1999, p. 49).

It is a retrospective approach to analyzing the foundational principles that ruled both their secular and non-secular lives. However, it has been proven time and time again that analyzing a culture’s religious beliefs, practices and ceremonial spaces is a credible tactic to understanding their worldview (Houston, 1999, p. 43). By analyzing how they viewed their own existence along with who, what, and how they worshipped, one might be able to infer the method to their madness. A combination of their physical environment, social and political structures, and religious convictions all influenced the way in which these ancient

peoples built, dwelled, and thought. Taking a systematic approach to understanding their religious devotion and perspective, the underlying relationship of the people and their place will reveal itself.

In an in-depth study of Classic Maya religion, Stephen D. Houston explains that defining such beliefs as ‘religion’ in our contemporary understanding of the word, “fails to capture the centrality of belief and practice in the conduct of Classic society” as

religion was not a matter apart from everyday life but rather one that explained it, undergirded it, enveloped it, and provided an idiom for appropriate behavior (Houston, 1999, p. 50).

These deities possessed powers beyond human control and capability. Any event, including natural forces and changes to their environment, was seen as the doing of the God associated with it. They were keenly aware of the consequences of such events to their survival, including but not limited to, climatic changes like droughts. These occurrences might induce rituals for which they would make sacrificial offerings to appease these Earthly Gods. “Both humans and gods held responsibility for maintaining order and balance. Chaos, the opposite of order, led to illness, either social or personal”, Houston states, and unlike the Western perspective of religion, “acts of both gods and humans were not so much concerned with personal salvation or the attainment of some exquisite level of heaven as they were with the here and

40 now” (Houston, 1999, p. 57). Because of this, it was of the highest importance to appease these Gods as a means to render good fortune for their daily lives. In turn, even the most mundane of tasks could have been considered a sacred act in the eyes of the Maya. Again, it might be a fallacy to assume ritual holds the same historical meaning and significance. As far as the current research is able to conclude, planting maize could be just as sacred of an act as burying their dead (Houston, 1999, p.

50). With this in mind, it is essential to focus on the purpose that their beliefs and practices bestowed upon them: it gave their lives meaning and reduced feelings of chaos (Houston, 1999, p. 51).

This concept of personified nature comes alive through the way in which they documented them on temples and told elaborate stories demonstrating the relationship of landscape features and their perception of human communities. James E. Brady best explains this notion by saying, “Rather than three focuses of Maya ritual, there is only one, with temple-pyramids simply being constructed models of the sacred mountain with its cave at the summit” (Brady, 2008, p. 80). The Maya replication of these landscape features infers that these natural settings were undoubtedly the “el tempo mundo”, primitive temples of the world (Brady 2008).

For the Maya, their physical dwelling on Earth was symbolic to their existence. They saw the Earth and its landscape as the architecture for their Gods, of which dictated supernatural forces and their daily lives. For them, the material and the supernatural were intertwined and could not be separated—nature is God and God is nature. Perhaps it is even controversial to call their Pre-Colombian belief in the supernatural “God” when through further study, it appears as though these deities were the personification of nature and its natural forces (Vail, 2000, p. 125). All things on Earth have a sacral nature, and this only reinforces the reason for their highly ritualized and religious lives.

RELIGION + SETTING

The three religious settings for the Maya, long before their elaborate cities, were mountains and caves, representing a single complex of the sacred Earth (Brady, 2008, p. 80).

FIGURE (17).

Hieroglyph of the Mayan word for God (“K’in”). (Stuart, 1997).

FIGURE (18).

Hieroglyph of the Maya word for hill. (Stuart, 1997).

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THE LIVING EARTH The Maya personified the Earth, giving it human-like characteritstics that might be attributed to monism, the theology that reduces phenomena to one divine God or principle, k’uh (Figure 17). But similar to Hinduism, that monistic view is far more complex; one divine essence of the earth is actually divided into multiple entities with their own stories, ruling forces and divine purpose. Illustrated in their hieroglyphs, the belief in the omnipresent nature of their Gods is apparent. By personifying nature and inanimate objects in their written language, they are conveying that the divine is present everywhere in everything. Houston exemplifies this best through the Maya word “wits” whose hieroglyph shows a hill with eyes, a nose, and a mouth being stepped on what appears to be a human foot (Figure 18).

Although this relationship is clearly represented in the Maya word for hill, it is also reflected in the way in which they perceive caves and mountains. The Maya word “aktun” translates to caves and stone structures (Brady, 2008, p. 80). It is true then that the thing, the word, and the manifestation of its meaning all hold a divine essence.

THE MAYA WORLDVIEW

FIGURE (19).

Illustration provided by William Metcalf. Diagram of the three realms of the Maya world, including the tree of life connecting them. (History’s Histories, n.d.)

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Furthermore, the Maya believed their world to be divided into 3 realms, the underworld, the middle world and the upperworld, which were connected by the tree of life— the Mayan interpretation of the axis mundi, or center of the universe (Figure 19) (Maya Religion, n.d.).

The roots reached far down into Xibalba, or the underworld. The underworld was thought to be a cold, dark and unpleasant place where souls would enter upon death, having to work their way up (Maya Religion, n.d.). The middle world occurred at their plane of existence. It was where the Maya dwelled, built cities and conducted their daily activities. The middle world was then shaded by the branches and leaves of the tree of life, creating a distinct boundary between heaven and earth. The heavens above were then divided into thirteen layers with each layer being ruled by a deity (Maya Religion, n.d.).

The physical representation of the three realms was then reflected in their built environments: the cenote was the threshold into the underworld, everything from their open plazas to the last stone step of their pyramids lay in the middle world, and the temple-hut built at the very top touching the sky was the beginning of the upperworld (Figure 20). Contrary to both caves and pyramids, these temples were constructed out of ephemeral materials with thatched roofs, and they housed important political figures during ritual ceremonies. The connection between the temple, the monarch, and this upper-realm was such that Kings became the “intermediary between heaven and Earth”, and therefore, the temple became the physical representation their mandate of heaven (Lucero, 2007, p. 409).

FIGURE (20). Drawing displaying the idea of the temple built on top of the pyramid. (Stierlin, 1968, p. 107).

This deviation of realms, both spiritual and domestic, did not happen without interaction between each other. In fact, the Maya recognized the cyclical nature between these realms, particularly in relation to water.

Through this flow of water emerges an image of the cyclic movement between these worlds: the rain falls from the sky to the earth and then into the openings of the underworld, where it supports life for both the environment and the people (Bergmann, p.

106).

The idea of cyclical patterns is no new concept for the Maya as they are famously known for their methods and strategies for tracking them.

The Maya were able to keep track of various cycles and time through their elaborate calendar system, of which was composed of around twenty total calendars. The Maya had solar and lunar calendars, calendars for Venus, and ones that we still don’t yet understand, such as the nine-day calendar. Three of these calendars were crucial—the long-count, the sacred calendar, and the seasonal calendar (The History Channel, 2019). These calendars work in the calendar round, a gear-like system composed of wheels which rotate and align, generating different combinations for a period of time (Figure 21). These calendars have no specific beginning or end date; the circular geometries reflect the idea that it is truly infinite.

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CYCLE OF LIFE

FIGURE (22). Photo of a ceramic replica of the Mayan sacred calendar called the T’zolk’in. Provided by author.

SERPENT OF SHADOW + LIGHT As mentioned earlier, the Maya vigorously tracked the cyclical patterns of celestial objects. Such observations would not have been possible without cultivating and clearing the land and building pyramids that rose above the tree canopy. Piercing through the tree of life and peering up at the heavens, the Maya must have been in awe of the night sky.

They tracked stars and planets with precision, projecting their celestial movements onto the plane of their own existence. They were in tune with various celestial cycles and phases, incorporating them into their folklore and calendars. The most impressive of all is the way in which they captured these astronomical occurrences through architecture.

Twice a year, a mass pilgrimage of people flood the steps of El Castillo to observe a unique interaction of time, space, and architecture (Carlson, 1999). At the Spring and Fall equinoxes, the angle of the sun casts shadows and light on a sliver of El Castillo, illuminating the body and head of a serpent along the edge of its steps (Figure 22). For the ancient Maya, this would have represented Kulucan’s descent on Earth. Such events show how Mayan urban centers:

project images of the cosmic order onto the place of human experience (Stone, 1992, p. 11).

Ephemeral but reoccurring, these events might have pointed the Maya towards an objective truth, one for which would have been impossible to deny as it became a part of cosmological and agricultural order. Building architecture to capture these truths only reinforces the powerful influence over their lives and belief systems. Chichen Itza’s El Castillo is perhaps the most famous example celestial influence on Maya architecture and sacred space. For the ancient Maya, this too would have been a ceremonial event of great importance, much like the way in which visitors experience this phenomenon today.

It is true that this phenomenon relies primarily on the Maya’s advance knowledge of astronomy, carefully curating the angle of the sun on a certain date with the sculpture of the serpent, carved into one of their most prestigious pyramids. But more than that, the serpent’s descent at the equinoxes signified the appropriate time to plant maize, their most valued crop, for which the Maya civilization would have seized to exist without (Desilva, n.d.). The Maya seamlessly blended their knowledge of the Earth’s seasonal changes with the solar patterns casted upon Earth, giving meaning to this phenomenon, something that Victor Turner would argue generates novelty. Furthermore, he says,

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... Human beings have had to create—by structural means— spaces and times in the calendar, or in the cultural cycles of their most cherished groups which cannot be captured in the classificatory nets of their quotidian, routinized spheres of action (Turner, Abrahams, & Harris, 1969, p. vii).

In this case, ceremonial events were captured and documented through architecture, signifying something meaningful to that society.

FIGURE (22).

Photo of Equinox Pilgrimage to El Castillo, Chichen Itza. Kulukucan descending upon Earth.

(Chichen Itza, 2022).

Yet the pilgrims that come to Chichen Itza each year understand this. Contemporary society does not utilize seasonal astronomical cycles and architecture in such sophisticated ways anymore. Because our society has moved beyond these analog visual cues for seasonal changes and towards the digitization of everything, phenomena like the serpent at Chichen Itza ceases to amaze us.

SUNSET AT SUMMER SOLSTICE PLATFORM ALIGNMENT WITH SUN’S SHADOW AT SUMMER SOLSTICE NORTHERNMOST ALIIGNMENT OF VENUS

SUNSET AT EQUINOX

SOUTHERNMOST ALIIGNMENT OF VENUS

MAGNETIC SOUTH

FIGURE (23).

Diagram of Venus alignments in El Caracol, Chichen Itza. By author.

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EL CARACOL

The Maya also built more practical structures such as observatories to track the cosmos.

Discovered at Chichen Itza, El Caracol was their primary observatory for watching the stars. El Caracol means snail, referring to the spiral-like structure, and it is unlike any other building typology within the ancient city (Science Channel, 2016). This observatory is thought to have tracked the Equinox and Solstice sun given its platform alignment and number of steps. But perhaps more importantly, the building’s windows at the very top of its spiral staircase track the movements of Venus at its northernmost and southernmost points (Figure 23) (Smoot, 2012). The eastern portion of the dome is collapsed, however archaeologists believe that El Caracol tracks nearly twenty other astronomical events (Science Channel, 2016).

Through deeper analysis, it becomes evident just how important Venus was to the Maya.

The movement of Venus, as seen from Earth, has distinct cycles and even phases; all of which were monitored by the ancient Maya.

The cycles of Venus are in sync with the Maya Sacred Calendar, called the T’zolk’in—a calendar system consisting of 260 days created to mark ceremonial events and ritual sacrifice for their deities. (The History Channel, 2019). These 260 days reflect the approximate time it takes for Venus to go through each one of its phases as the Morning or Evening Star.

Not only that but this time period would have correlated with the rainy season, signifying appropriate times to plant crops or make sacrificial offerings to the Gods (Smoot, 2012).

The full cycle calculates to 584 calendar days, of which were recorded in the Dresden Codex as well as stelae found at the Venus Platform in Chichen Itza; this stone tablet shows the hieroglyph for Venus, a star over a shell with a bar and 8 circles, signifying the number cycles and years it takes for Venus to make its full course (Trejo, 2004).

The scientific reasoning for Venus’ appearance (and disappearance) has to do with our geocentric perspective of Venus’ orbit (Ottewell, 2022). Venus completes its orbit around the Sun sooner than the Earth, meaning that we are able to view it in both our Eastern and Western hemispheres, hence, why it appears in before dawn and then before dusk. The more interesting part of Venus’ apparent cycle is at its conjunctions (Figure 24). When Venus is closest to us, it is considered to be at its inferior conjunction. Because Venus essentially hides between Earth’s shadow and the Sun, it seems to disappear for a short time. As it orbits and moves to its superior conjunction, or further point from us, it then gets lost behind the sun for a longer period of time before swinging back around. From Earth, we are able to witness these patterns as cycles and phases.

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VITALITY OF VENUS

SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION VENUS

90 DAYS

SUN VENUS AS EVENING STAR

VENUS AS MORNING STAR

8 DAYS INFERIOR CONJUNCTION

EARTH

FIGURE (24).

Diagram of Venus alignments in El Caracol, Chichen Itza. By author.

THE RED STAR’S REVENGE Venus would have been one of the brightest celestial objects in the sky, and its arrival before and after the sun was significant to the Maya. So much so that the cycle of Venus was engrained in their mythology. This particular myth behind Venus tells a tale of two brothers, Chak ‘Ek and K’in Ahaw. Chak ‘Ek ruled Venus meanwhile K’in Ahaw represented the Sun (TED-Ed, 2019). In the morning, Chak ‘Ek rises above the horizon, just before dawn (Figure 25). That is until his brother, K’in Ahaw breaks dawn and rises, outshining him. This occurrence of Venus rising in the East is referred to as the Morning Star, and it occurs for a total of 236 days. The story continues until Chak ‘Ek decides to descend back into the underworld to plot revenge on his brilliant brother (TED-Ed, 2019). Chak ‘Ek spends nearly 90 days in the underworld before rising in the West as the Evening Star for a total of 250 days. The final part of this cycle is an 8 day period where Chak ‘Ek disappears once again before rising in the East. During this short period, the Maya held ritual ceremonies to try and appease Chak ‘Ek (TED-Ed, 2019).

FIGURE (25).

Illustration depicting Chak ‘Ek as Venus. (Library of Congress, n.d.)

Furthermore, the Maya realized that this 584-day cyclical reprisal between their two deities repeated itself five times, the equivalent to about eight calendar years (TED-Ed, 2019).

To account for this eight-year period, Chak ‘Ek took on five different forms, attacking his brother and his brother’s allies through each cycle (Figure 26).

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On his revenge tour, Chak ‘Ek rose from the underworld with darts and spears, ready to attack K’awiil, the God of substenance and lightning (TED-Ed, 2019). Chak ‘Ek struck and killed K’awiil at the end of the rainy season, disrupting the food system and bestowing chaos on Earth. Another full cycle later, and Chak ‘Ek returned for his brother, who descended onto Earth each night in the form of a jaguar. Chak ‘Ek was able to strike and injure his brother at the end of the dry season, causing even more chaos and tension between regional tribes (TED-Ed, 2019). Thirdly, Chak ‘Ek sought retribution on the God of maize, just in time for harvest, causing destruction and famine; But the God of Maize was resilient, rising once again in the “Seven Water Place” a cave system in the East (TED-Ed, 2019). Next, Chak ‘Ek had his eyes on Ak Na’ Ak, the turtle constellation associated with the summer solstice, considered to be a good omen to many.

Claiming his fourth victim, everyone perished on Earth (TED-Ed, 2019). It was soon after that Hun Ajaw, a Hero Twin from the Maya creation story, came back to create a new generation of humans originating from maize. Lastly, Chak ‘Ek’s last victim was “a stranger from the West” who arrived in the dry season and shook the order as they knew it (TED-Ed, 2019).

FIGURE (26).

Photo of page from Dresden Codex documenting Venus’ patterns and the story of Chak ‘Ek. (Library of Congress, n.d.)

RITUAL ASSEMBLAGE Entering a cenote is like entering an unworldly place with stalactites and stalagmites (icicle or mound-like calcium deposits), very little light, bats and birds flying about, a chilling temperature, and of course, crystal-clear water.

It is no wonder that the Maya viewed cenotes as thresholds to the underworld where they assumed some of their most prevailing deities to reside. Even more so, the Maya believed that all life was conceived in caves, even the Sun and Venus.

Major astronomical events such as that of Venus’ descension into Xibalba for the eight days between his departure as the Evening Star and arrival as the Morning Star would have elicted ritual ceremonies (Figure 27).

Among the numerous man-made and natural landscapes that the Maya denoted as sacred, the religious ceremony and ritual that took place in caves and cenotes asserts its significance over the rest.

Next to the sun they adored and made more sacrifices to this star than to any other celestial and terrestrial creature and ―they knew on what day it would appear again in the east after it had lost itself or disappeared in the west…: they counted the days by this star and yielded reverence and offered sacrifices to it.

(Aveni, 1980).

Not only was their procession to these cenotes and caves apart of the sacred act, but so were the items that they brought with them—a “ritual assemblage” of artifacts such as cobal incense, ceramics, figurines, gemstone tablets, and most infamous, live animals and humans for sacrifice (Brady 2008). Incense was burned to cleanse one’s body upon entering, pottery was shattered as a ritual act, and hearts were cut out as the most extreme sign of devotion and service. Evidence of this lays at the bottom of these karst topographies, often well-preserved in the water.

Because of the centrality of these natural spaces to their own belief system, the Maya would regularly hold ritual ceremony in these cenotes as offerings to individual deities for a variety of reasons. Their reasoning derived directly from their worldview and perception that the appeasement of their gods directly influenced certain outcomes. Hence, they would go directly to the source to plead their case through means of procession, ritual, and sacrifice. Prufer explains this relationship between sacred space and ritual when he says,

“Once a site is made sacred, it carries with it a new range of rules for behavior in relation to the site, rules that often imply relationships with a “non-empirical” world,” (Prufer, 2002, p. 23).

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Of these behaviors, the Maya occasionally held human and animal sacrifice ceremonies since blood was a crucial ingredient for making rain (Kuhlman, Brumels, Gates, Schwartz, & Gara, 2015). The most extreme of their behaviors and practices, sacrifice was made when desperate times equaled desperate measures, and the extensive history of warfare, invasion, political instability, and environmental disaster points

FIGURE (27).

Reenactment of Maya entering a cenote as part of a ritual ceremony. (Kuhlman, Brumels, Gates, Schwartz, & Gara, 2015).

to many reasons why such practices might occur. In reality, the downfall of the Maya Civilization has thought to have been caused by self-induced climate change for which sacrificial deposits in Chichen Itza’s Holtun cenote correlates with a severe drought in the soil record nearly a thousand years ago (Kuhlman, Brumels, Gates, Schwartz, & Gara, 2015)

FIGURE (28). Photo of archaeologists finding a deposit of ritual artifacts within a cave. (Ortega, 2019)

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Besides bloodletting, the Maya had other means to appease these deities. Archaeological deposits discovered in multiple cenotes and caves tell a different story; one that is more palatable. Ceremonial deposits also included intricate jade and turquoise tables, obsidian blades, and precious metals (Doyle, 2018). Pottery played an important role in the cenotes as well, both to secular and non-secular life, possibly encasing the burning incense, being shattered during ritual, or carrying back water to drinking (Figure 29).

Nonetheless, it is impossible to infer the exact activity and ritual process that the ancient Maya conducted in these sacred spaces.

Much of it is lost to the ephemeral moment, and certainly to written history. Christopher T. Morehart and Noah Butler elaborate on this notion:

Rituals provide a material form to immaterial beliefs seen to exist beyond the normal boundaries of space and time (Morehart & Butler, 2010)

Because ritual is so phenomenological and time and space dependent, it then becomes frivolous to assume any sort of real description of the events that might have taken place.

There are very few accounts of authentic ritual within cenotes, mostly anecdotes written in Spanish such as one telling of a Maya hunter, performing ritual upon heading into the jungle for his daily hunt (Cogolludo, 1867). Even such documents fail to decipher the true meaning and virtue of these ceremonies, whether individual or communal. The word “ritual” implies that it is repetitive in nature, yet it becomes impossible for outsiders to replicate the ritual without appropriation. It then renders meaningless as its done without its intended purpose.

But the materiality of rituals themselves - though recurrent, repeatable, and set in motion through places, things, and people - is brief, fleeting, and transient. In other words, ritual’s materiality is different than its physicality, and studies of ritual would seem to be in a constant struggle with its quasi-materality (Morehart & Butler, 2010).

COMPONENTS OF RITUAL The next best approach may then be to establish criteria for ritual. What elements make an event a ritual? According to Joyce Marcus, there are eight:

one or more performers (shaman, priest, king), an audience (humans, deities, ancestors), a location (cenote, cave, temple), a purpose (to communicate, make offerings), contextual meaning (drought, warfare), temporal span (hour, day, week), actions (chanting, singing, dancing, theatre, burning incense, bloodletting, breaking pottery), and food or paraphernalia (stingray spines, obsidian blades, balls of rubber, meat, tamales) (Austin, 2016).

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This sort of criteria sets up the means for how ritual activity within a space might sanctify it, making it sacred to those participants. Victor Turner accounts for this communal experience of sacred space and acts when he explains,

Rituals reveal values at their deepest level… Men express in ritual what moves them most, and since the form of expression is conventionalized and obligatory, it is the values of the group that are revealed. I see in study of the rituals the key to an understanding of the essential constitution of human societies (Turner, 1966, vi).

In turn, examining the ritual assembleges and criteria gives us a better comprehension of the phenomenology, or state of being, of the Maya; how they perceived, expressed, built, dwelled, and worshipped.

III. MAKING

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ARCHITECTURAL ARTIFACT Architecture is an artifact of time and space. It acts as the intersection of the three C’s: context, concept, and content. It becomes an artifact that reflects a society’s values and beliefs as well as their perspective of their place in the universe.

Architecture becomes the materialization of an idea, and the process of making architecure becomes its own kind of ritual, engaging prior knowledge and revelations with place and experience. It is within that process of making that meaning can be found.

Making architecture captures both place and phenomena, and hence, is the next step to understanding the ancient Maya. If done correcting, the architectural materialization and experience should be able to convey the idea of Mayan sacred space without directly replicating the past— A new approach and conceptualization of divine principles.

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness (Gehry).

FIGURE (29). Map of Tulum’s city center, intersection roads, and cenotes along the path. By author.

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CONTEXT

The modern center of Tulum is just inland from where the ancient Maya built their coastal fortess city. The town center is vibrant and full of life while much of the archaeological site remains part of a protected national park.

Surrounding the urban life is vast jungle, stretching for miles. Two major arteries intersect in the heart of Tulum, directing the flow of people from the north in Cancun out west to Coba (Figure 29). Along just about every mile marker are oceanfront resorts and signs reading “cenote”,breaking the thick wall of jungle as you drive past it. In the region, there are nearly 6,000 of these cenotes, waiting to be explored (CenoteFinder, n.d.). Many of them are interconnected through broad underground river systems. The Sac Actun system is the second largest in the world, stretching almost 348 kilometers and reaching depths of over 100 meters; This system alone has 11 cenote entrances, scattered just northeast of Tulum (AllTourNative, n.d.).

CENOTE CARACOL + ADJACENT DRY CAVE Off the beaten path and near the Mol Balam crater just north of Tulum is a dynamic dry cave and cenote system known as Cenote Caracol.

This site is not well documented and is nearly impossible to make out from Google Earth, yet underneath the tree canopy and even deeper underground is a true hidden treasure. The topography rises and slopes along a defined ridge in the landscape, revealing collapsed openings and tiny perforations in the surface; this is where the nearly 100 meter cave system begins. Not entirely a dry, the cave holds a shallow bed of rain and spring water. Crevices in the rock formation reveal the supply of fresh water from below, indicating its connection to a larger

water system. A shanty wooden walkway with bejuco vine railings stretch out across the still water reflecting the greenery behind it while stalactites droop from the limestone ceiling (Figure 30). The sounds of the jungle fade into mere silence; only the sound of dripping water and fluttering bats faintly tickle your eardrums.

Before you know it, the light behind you dims and you are in complete darkness, relying on the structure around you to guide you through.

It is cold, moist, and even claustrophobic The water’s surface subsides to drier land and a small skylight begins to illuminate the space in the distance, highlighting a deposit of sacrificial items on a stalagmite alter. This is a sacred space.

FIGURE (30).

Photograph of cave from from the jungle

by Monica (This Rare Earth, 2021).

68 FIGURE (31).

Photograph of the massive cenote within the cave system by Monica (This Rare Earth, 2021).

The path begins to wind and weave through natural thresholds and openings deep in the cave. The calcium formations are lit by artificial colored lighting, adding ambiance to the space. The path turns once more before being met by a grand cenote with trees growing from its bottom; You are in captivated by its beauty and serenity (Figure 31). The path continues, passing under a crevice in the

overhead where you are once again exposed to the dense jungle canopy. The pathway then transforms into a narrow staircase, swooping and squeezing you out of a tiny perforation above. You are once again above ground and immersed in the jungle. Was that real or just your imagination?

DIAGRAMMING EXPERIENCE

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FIGURE (32).

Diagram of Dry Cave at Cenote Caracol with coordinating plan, section, and various photogaphs. By author.

FIGURE (33).

Photo inside of Cenote Caracol, depicting the fragile staircase descending down to the surface of the water.

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Furthermore, Cenote Caracol is quite a different experience. It is isolated from the cave system and a decent hike from the cave’s exit; across the ridge and through the jungle. There is no indictation of it besides for a man-made wooden structure and the beginning of anther staircase through a smaller perforation in the ground (Figure 33).

Upon entering a cenote, one must venture downward, through darkness and on slippery ground, into a deep realm before eventually diving in (Bergmann, p. 100)

Analyzing such a remote site was no easy feat. There was anecdotal evidence of these colossal karst features through photographs and some videos, yet no visible indication of their markings on the site itself. Google Maps provided vague confirmation of the exact location of the cenote, but no indication of the adjacent cave system. Even more thorough databases containing plan and sectional mappings of sub-systems within the larger Sac Actun ecosystem had no documentation of Cenote Caracol. All that was available for a comprehensive understanding of the site was a scaleless and cartoonish map provided by Labnaha Eco Park. Even topography maps failed to give the site the kind of scale and intensity that was clearly present.

This proved challenging, but through careful analysis and piecing together the site through the available resources, it ultimately lead to a mapping diagram, showing the ridge’s burnt edge, the two predominant cenote and cave openings, and the implied itinerary through them represented by the twine (Figure 34).

Various markings on this mapping diagram construct the organize the site and giving it a scale of 1:40. Certain lines indicate important moments of experience while the tone reinforces their importance on the site. A faint underlay reveals the underground river system connecting the cenote and cave as well as Venus’ alignments from the midpoint between them.

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SITE ANALYSIS FIGURE (34).

Mapping Diagram of Site made of plexiglass, mylar, twine, and hardware nuts. Drawn at 1:40.

By author.

FIGURE (35).

Photo of process site model from above.

By Author.

FIGURE (36).

Perspective photo of process site model with preliminary intervention. By author.

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BREAKING + REASSEMBLING Understanding the site meant getting a grasp of the scale and relationship between these karst topography features. They’re close enough to be a part of a larger system, yet far and distinct enough from each other that they are two completely different experiences. Somehow the itinerary through and between needed to account for this while also connecting them with the larger idea of the Mayan perspective. Additionally, the materiality and dimensionality of the landscape itself needed to be assessed. It is hard, yet brittle; porous and textured. The topography is somewhat hilly, containing large deformations on the surface. The two-dimensional mapping diagram had to transform into the third-dimension (Figure 35) . These lines and textures had to become something, and the spatiality and depth beneath the surface meant that a physical site model needed to be deconstructed and reconstructed (Figure 36).

FIGURE (37).

Plaster Canvases. By author.

These initial plaster canvas explorations served as a loose representation of the landscape at a large scale (Figure 37). Meanwhile, different thicknesses and edges allowed for the representation of the surface of a karst landscape. Similar to the way in which the Maya shattered pottery in ritual, these plaster canvases were too broken and reassembled, allowing for the mind to reinterpret various pieces and potential features derived from the site mapping diagram. These fragments were then structured on an interpretive grid, allowing for the development of space below.

This process reflected ideas of deconstructionism; taking what is perceive to be there and fracturing it (either literally or figuratively) to create something new.

That is what deconstruction is made of: not the mixture but the tension between memory, fidelity, the preservation of something that has been given to us, and, at the same time, heterogeneity, something absolutely new, and a break. (Derrida, 2020).

INCORPORATING ALIGNMENTS + IMPLEMENTING NARRATIVE Looking at the bigger picture, it becomes critical that this intervention on the site incorporates and adapts ideas of the Maya worldview and placemaking as a means of bringing the research full-circle. Perhaps it is the only way to properly frame the issue of the current experience of the cenote: it lacks the full understanding of place, phenomenology, and the reason for their making. This intervention must consider all things about their ideas of marking the landscape, organizing and aligning spaces, connecting the three realms, and the ritual and ceremony itself.

This is where Chak ‘Ek and Venus come back into the scope: can there be a processional experience through this sacred geography that aligns and tracks the movements of Venus, commemorates the ritual ceremony between Chak Ek’s disappearance, and elicits a broader understanding of cenotes as Maya sacred space overall?

FIGURE (38).

Explorative plan diagram aligning the movements of Venus with a processional avenue between the cave system and cenote.

78 FIGURE (39).

Explorative section diagram showing a space created for observing Venus rising as the Morning Star. By author.

The following experimental diagrams attempt to explore these concepts by creating a processional avenue, aligning particular points of Venus with the cenote and setting of the Summer Solstice sun, and using fragments of Maya urban mapping to illustrate a construction method (Figure 38). These explorations give lay the foundation for how we might circulate through this landscape, experience it, and create meaningful architecture that capitalizes on narrative moments in time and space (Figure 39).

FIGURE (40).

Initial parti sketch of intervention, connecting the earth to the sky. By Author.

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THE BIRTH OF A PARTI...

This entire proposal then become about carving the Earth and touching the Sky; connecting the sacred cenotes directly to the cosmos and intervening through the various layers of the underworld and upperworld. Its itinerary is contingent on the procession through these terrestrial formations, the dense jungle, and above the tree canopy to view the horizon. This sort of conceptual idea of movement through

landscape and space requires both horizontal and vertical movement, aligning with celestial objects at certain points in time. It is ephemeral, phenomenological, contextual, yet entirely substantiated through eternal cycles of the universe. The parti becomes the contemporary expression of the cave, the pyramid, and the temple hut at its very top (Figure 40).

FIGURE (42).

Rendered perspective of path ascending in the interior, surrounding the occupant with stalactites and stalagmites. By author.

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THE PROCESSION + RITUAL RHYTHM The procession really begins at the mouth of the cave where corten steel stones begin to outline itinerary ahead. The path breaks apart and pulls away at certain intervals, setting up a sort of rhythm that prepares the occupant subconsciously for the first distinct encounter: the sacred alter of ritual significance (Figure 41). At this boundary, the path boxes you in on the periphery, acting as a guide through the rest cavern’s twists and turns. The presence of light and water is still evident, illuminating and seeping through the gaps in between the ground plane and the railings. As you turn the corner, the ground begins to slope upwards, positioning you just under the stalactites; making them close enough to touch (Figure 42).

FIGURE (41).

Rendering Perspective of entrance into the cave illustrating the rhytm of the corten steel stones leading to the alter. By author.

MATERIALIZATION OF THE DATUM

FIGURE (43).

Rendering of corten steel path and procession rhythm through the cave system as it passes the overgrown cenote. By author.

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Corten steel was specifically chosen due to the way in which it interacts with water over time. Given the emphasis of water within these sacred landscapes, it was vital that any architectural intervention and its materiality enhanced its presence. The patina process is a chemical between oxygen found in the water and the metal itself, changing over time.

Initially a bright orange, it quickly oxidizes into a rusted sienna and brown color (Figure 44).

This process is symbolic of how the cenotes’

FIGURE (44).

Patina Process of Corten Steel.

use has evolved over time, yet its timeless wonder and beauty remains. Intervention in these fragile environments was intended to be delicate. Depsite the contrary “heaviness” of metal, its elemental details, meandering path, and moments of pause and fracture challenge that stigma as an overall composition (Figure 43). The corten steel path acts as a datum throughout the entire project, tying the dynamic experiences together.

MEANDERING + MEANING

FIGURE (45).

Rendering perspective showing the path datum meandering through the ceiling crevice. By author.

The meandering paths not only give the opportunity for moments of pause, but they relfect intervals of time and react to their surrounding environments; like how the steps of a Mayan pyramid track the days and river currents pivot around rocks.

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The meandering path emphasizes the ritual movement through the subterranean space and eventually up through the tree canopy. In the cave, the meander path guides one through its tight and open spaces, reacting to them different ways. When the cave opens, the fragmented steps allow for the visitor to get a more tactile experience; They are able to touch the water, even walk onto the sandy island (Figure 45).

Once the end of the cave experience is in sight, the path encloses you one again, winding its way up through the crack in the ceiling.

The path acts different above ground. It hovers over the jungle floor and stretches out until it meets the base of a tower structure and stair case. Similar to the corten steel stones, the stair case breaks away at certain intervals, signifying important time periods such as the eight days (landings) thats Chak Ek disappears before rising as the Morning Star once again (Figure 46). In this essence, the rhythm of time is further reflected through this contemporary take on Mayan architecture.

FIGURE (46).

Rendered section of the East tower, showing the connecting between the cave procession and the view above the tree canopy. By author.

TOUCHING THE SKY The procession through the tree canopy becom quite a contrasting experience from the cave. Although the corten steel path and ralings still guide you, the ritual movement is vastly different. The pace is a little faster given the winding staircase to its summit. Yet, there are moments of pause along the way, pulling away from the main central core and allowing

the occupant to seize that individal moment.

The journey to the top is somewhat strenuous, much like the climb up a true Maya pyramid.

But the reward waiting above the tree canopy is well worth the commitment.

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FIGURE (47).

Aerial Rendering looking out towards the Eastern horizon. By author.

It is at the very top where this journey all begins to come together: Where the darkness of the underworld meets the bright arc of the heavens. You are embraced by the horizons to the East and West; and if you are lucky enough to arrive at dawn or dusk, you just might be able to see Venus float above them.

The Eastern horizon is lined with the ocean’s vast boundary, reminding you of where in the world you are, “Zama” (Figure 47). Whereas the West is met with the endless sea of jungle.

These two towers, rising high and angled away from each other, are aligned perfectly with Chak Ek’s arrival as the Evening Star and Morning Star. The East At the sunset of Summer Solstice, visitors can witness the two brothers in action, crossing paths right through the very mouth of the cenote (Figure 48).

FIGURE (48).

Aerial Rendering showing the connection of the West tower to Cenote Caracol. By author.

FIGURE (49).

Physical artifact from Tulum visit. Woven palm bark. Photograph by author.

FIGURE (50).

Example of material and tectonic weaving and aesthetic in Tulum. Bamboo Pavilion by CoLab Studios.

Photograph by author.

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MATERIALIZATION OF THE ‘TEMPLE’ The structure and canopy of the top of these towers is in stark contrast to the corten steel datum. It is a temporal material, the structure consisting of stick bamboo stalk while the hyperbolic canopy is of the trees and vines found abundantly throughout the jungle (Figures 49 and 51). It is weaved tightly together to provide necessary protection from the Sun and Rain, K’in Ahaw and Chaak. Both materality and its position above the tree canopy makes it the epitome of the temple hut on top of the pyramid, an essential element to Maya religious architecture and the ceremonial process (Figure 51).

FIGURE (51).

Close-up rendering of the East tower rising above the tree canopy. By author.

TOUCHING THE WATER In the West tower, one has the opportunity to interact with the water once again after viewing the Evening Star. At the base of this tower is a narrow covered passage, leading to straight to Cenote Caracol. The winding staircase sweeps you down under the Earth once more as you are squeezed through the top and engulfed by the bowl-like space of the cenote. The stair turns and descends once more before hovering just above the water.

Compared to a similar gesture in cave’s shallow still water (Figure 52), the cenote is deep, full of life and movement, with underwater pockets and pathways. Visitors are free to jump into the crystal clear water of the cenote. Some even choose to dive its extensive underwater river (Figure 53).

FIGURE (53).

Rendered section of the West tower showing the connection from the summit to the depths of the cenote. By author.

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FIGURE (52).

Perspective Rendering of platform terrace hovering over the shallow water within the of the cave. By author.

‘TREE’ OF LIFE The site’s longitudinal section holds the site intervention’s secret: these two opposing towers act like the Maya concept of the Tree of Life, rising above the tree canopy to touch the heavens, its trunk capturing moments of pause in this temporal life here on Earth, and the roots of the underwater river eternally connecting them as one. (Figure 54).

The ritual bodily movement through this journey becomes symbolic of one traveling through the layers of the underworld, middle world, and upperworld. Furthermore, the site can be circulated in reverse, reinforcing the cyclical patterns of the universe.

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FIGURE (54).

Rendered longitudinal section illustrating the concept of the Maya Tree of Life; the tree canopy, the trunk, and the roots. By author.

IV. CONCLUSION

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FIGURE (55).

Aerial rendering of the two towers in the site opposing each other with the dense jungle fog behind them. By author.

The cradles of civilization were able to thrive for various reasons, but none other than the presence of water and cultivation of land. The mystery of the Maya civilization has plagued historians for decades being that their source of life was far less obvious than other ancient examples. The secret to the Maya lied beneath the surface in cenotes, where they believed their deities blessed them with fresh drinking water. These underground karst topographies became sacred to them, providing them with their means of survival. For them, they were the first temples of the world, alive and breathing just as they were, housing their deities.

They lived in a symbiotic relationship with the personified Earth, and therefore, they had to provide the Earth deities with their needs through offerings and sacrifice at times written in the cosmos.

For the Maya, their behaviors are inseparable from their belief system. They existed in a cyclical world where their deities dictaced outcomes, and the Maya were at the will of their grace. Recognizing these cyclical patterns, the Maya ingeniously captured phenomena and told stories of the universe through

through architecture and placemaking, marking the landscape, organizing space, and building monuments that connected their three realms: the underworld, the middle world, and the upperworld. The ritual movement and behaviors conducted in these sacred spaces reflected their reality, and the cyclical patterns were all they needed to prove the omnipresence of the universe. The combination of beliefs, behaviors, and the built environment reveals just how in tune they were with their own existence, justifying their greatness.

Yet the reality today is far bleaker: the monumental pyramids and temples they build have turned to ruins and rubble, and the contemporary Maya live lives slightly more integrated with modern society, participating in things like the tourism economy that took over the Yucatan Peninsula in the 1990’s. Although some of their beliefs and practices remain, they grandeur on the matter has been lost to history. It is in the best interests that the memory of the great ancient Maya be preserved beyond that of just their ruins.

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Given the threat that Tulum and the cenotes face today, it is essential that there be an effort to preserve them. If not physically, then through experience and narrative. There exists a lack of understanding of them as ancient sacred space, and it is a missed opportunity for educating those who inhabit them today for leisure and recreation. This is where the architecturalization of them can assist. Architecture enables the occupant to experience a place in ways that they might not be able to alone. Architecture can convey ideas about place, time, space, and sacrality that was lost in translation. It allows for the reinterpretation of these sacred space so that inhabitants can learn to appreciate them for what they once were.

This holistic approach to architectural experience walks a fine line of appropriate intervention: who should occupy these spaces and how. However, the influence of ancient placemaking and storytelling strategies make it inherently Mayan. This intervention connects the Maya worldview with the current world, creating a procession and ritual though the realms of this sacred geography.

The physical architecture is a contemporary take on the idea of the cave, the pyramid, and the hut creating the Tree of Life while the materiality echoes the passing of time and aesthetic of Tulum as a whole. The narrative of the deities, cosmos, and the underworld create a cyclical itinerary between the spaces and create the opportunity for the most important occupant of all: the indigenous Maya. By incorporating division of divine time such as the periods for which Chak ‘Ek and Venus disappear, the site can be closed off to the public and used rightfully as sacred space for ritual ceremony.

Overall, the context, concept, and content come full circle through this research. By analyzing this complex problem through the lens of place, phenomenology, and making, it allowed for the reinterpretation of ancient sacred space and the beliefs and behaviors related to it without appropriating the ancient Maya. Furthermore, it reframe the perspective of the tourist who will continue to visit these ominous natural marvels.

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE (1).

Photo of Tulum’s ruins showing it an an ancient fortress city By author.

FIGURE (2).

“Well of Bolochen”. Illustration by Frederick Catherwood and Owen Jones.

(Catherwood, 1844)

FIGURE (3).

Photograph by Bobo and ChiChi. Cenote Suytun, Valladolid, Mexico. (Bobo and Chichi, 2018)

FIGURE (4).

Photo showing Azulik, a premier eco-tourism resort. (Azulik, 2022)

FIGURE (5).

Tulum Landfill showing deforestation of jungle.

Photo provided by Rachel Appel. (The Dark Side of Tulum, 2019).

FIGURE (6).

Illustration showing the process of contamination of precious resources.

By author.

FIGURE (7).

Instagram geolocation showing how tourists currently inhabit cenotes.

By author.

FIGURE (8).

Light Phenomena in Tulum Restaurant. Photograph by Pepe Molina.

FIGURE (9).

Stair in jungle. Photograph by BeTulum Hotel.

FIGURE (10).

“Castle at Tulum”. Illustration by Frederick Catherwood and Owen Jones.

(Catherwood, 1844).

FIGURE (11).

Diagram showing the life cycle of milpa farming. By author.

FIGURE (12).

Diagram of important pyramids and the processional avenue of of Teotihuacan.

(Stierlin, 1968, p. 107).

FIGURE (13).

Diagram showing El Castillo and the direct intersection of four cenotes.

By author.

FIGURE (14).

Illustration showing the detection of water underneath El Castillo. (Chavez, Tejero-Andrade, Cifuentes, Argote-Espino, & Hernández-Quintero, 2018)

FIGURE (15).

Illustration by Eduardo Vargas Montero conveying an inverted Mayan pyramid, creating a well and connecting the cultural landscape to the underworld, Xibalba.

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE (16).

Photo of Cenote Sagrado, the Sacred Well at Chichen Itza.

FIGURE (17).

Hieroglyph of the Mayan word for God. (Stuart, 1997).

FIGURE (18).

Hieroglyph of the Maya word for hill. (Stuart, 1997).

FIGURE (19).

Illustration provided by William Metcalf. Diagram of the three realms of the Maya world, including the tree of life connecting them. (History’s Histories, n.d.)

FIGURE (20).

Drawing displaying the idea of the temple built on top of the pyramid. (Stierlin, 1968, p. 107).

FIGURE (21).

Photo of a ceramic replica of the Mayan sacred calendar called the T’zolk’in. By author.

FIGURE (22).

Photo of Equinox Pilgrimage to El Castillo, Chichen Itza. Kulukucan descending upon Earth. (Chichen Itza, 2022)

FIGURE (23).

Diagram of Venus alignments in El Caracol, Chichen Itza.

By author.

FIGURE (24).

Diagram of Venus alignments in El Caracol, Chichen Itza.

By author.

FIGURE (25).

Illustration depicting Chak ‘Ek as Venus.

(Library of Congress, n.d.)

FIGURE (26).

Photo of page from Dresden Codex documenting Venus’ patterns and the story of Chak ‘Ek. (Library of Congress, n.d.)

FIGURE (27).

Reenactment of Maya entering a cenote as part of a ritual ceremony. (Kuhlman, Brumels, Gates, Schwartz, & Gara, 2015)

FIGURE (28).

Photo of archaeologists finding a deposit of ritual artifacts within a cave. (Ortega, 2019)

FIGURE (29).

Map of Tulum’s city center, intersection roads, and cenotes along the path. By author.

FIGURE (30).

Map of Tulum’s city center, intersection roads, and cenotes along the path. By author.

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LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE (31).

Photograph of the massive cenote within the cave system by Monica (This Rare Earth, 2021).

FIGURE (32).

Diagram of Dry Cave at Cenote Caracol with coordinating plan, section, and various photogaphs. By author.

FIGURE (33).

Photo inside of Cenote Caracol, depicting the fragile staircase descending down to the surface of the water.

FIGURE (34).

Mapping Diagram of Site made of plexiglass, mylar, twine, and hardware nuts. Drawn at 1:40. By author.FIGURE (35).

Photo of process site model from above.

By Author.

FIGURE (36).

Perspective photo of process site model with preliminary intervention. By author.

FIGURE (37).

Plaster canvases. By author.

FIGURE (38).

Explorative plan diagram aligning the movements of Venus with a processional avenue between the cave system and cenote.

FIGURE (39).

Explorative section diagram showing a space created for observing Venus rising as the Morning Star. By author.

FIGURE (40).

Initial parti sketch of intervention, connecting the earth to the sky.

By Author.

FIGURE (41).

Rendering Perspective of entrance into the cave illustrating the rhytm of the corten steel stones leading to the alter. By author.

FIGURE (42).

Rendered perspective of path ascending in the interior, surrounding the occupant with stalactites and stalagmites. By author.

FIGURE (43).

Rendering of corten steel path and procession rhythm through the cave system as it passes the overgrown cenote. By author.

FIGURE (44).

Patina Process of Corten Steel.

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE (45).

Rendering perspective showing the path datum meandering through the ceiling crevice. By author.

FIGURE (46).

Rendered section of the East tower, showing the connecting between the cave procession and the view above the tree canopy. By author.

FIGURE (47).

Aerial Rendering looking out towards the Eastern horizon. By author.

FIGURE (48).

Aerial Rendering showing the connection of the West tower to Cenote Caracol. By author.

FIGURE (49).

Photo of physical artifact from Tulum visit. Woven palm bark. By author.

FIGURE (50).

Example of material and tectonic weaving and aesthetic in Tulum. Bamboo Pavilion by CoLab Studios.

By author.

FIGURE (51).

Close-up rendering of the East tower rising above the tree canopy. By author.

FIGURE (52).

Perspective Rendering of platform terrace hovering over the shallow water within the of the cave.

By author.

FIGURE (53).

Rendered section of the West tower showing the connection from the summit to the depths of the cenote. By author.

FIGURE (54).

Rendered longitudinal section illustrating the concept of the Maya Tree of Life; the tree canopy, the trunk, and the roots. By author .FIGURE (55).

Aerial rendering of the two towers in the site opposing each other with the dense jungle fog behind them. By author.

104

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