MEXICO CITY.- Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the Quintana Roo Aquifer System Research Center (CINDAQ) have formalized a partnership aimed at strengthening the study, documentation and conservation of archaeological sites hidden beneath the country’s caves, cenotes and other bodies of water.
The agreement brings together the two organizations’ experience in underwater archaeology, cave exploration and digital documentation, turning more than two decades of collaboration into a formal institutional alliance. Through INAH’s Underwater Archaeology Department, the partnership will support research projects involving flooded caves, submerged cultural materials and archaeological sites that are often difficult to reach.
For Roberto Junco Snchez, head of INAH’s Underwater Archaeology Department, the agreement recognizes a relationship developed through years of shared fieldwork, scientific cooperation and mutual trust.
CINDAQ has played an important role in making some of Mexico’s most challenging underwater environments accessible to researchers. Its team has contributed expertise in cave diving, expedition logistics, surveying, photography, photogrammetry, Geographic Information Systems and data management, helping archaeologists document and interpret sites that would otherwise be extremely difficult to study.
That experience has been particularly valuable in the Yucatn Peninsula, where an extensive network of caves and cenotes preserves archaeological and environmental evidence spanning thousands of years.
One of the projects benefiting from the collaboration is Prehistory of the Yucatn Peninsula through Evidence from Caves and Cenotes, directed by INAH researcher Silvina Vigliani. According to Vigliani, CINDAQ’s knowledge of the region’s karst systems has been essential to entering and recording spaces that might otherwise remain inaccessible to archaeology.
The organization has also provided researchers with maps, photographic records and documentation gathered during its explorations, creating a valuable body of information for ongoing archaeological work.
Another major example is the Hoyo Negro Underwater Archaeological Project in Tulum. Begun in 2011 and still active, the project has become one of the best-known examples of underwater archaeological research in the region. In 2023, it received a Best Practices distinction from UNESCO.
The partnership has extended beyond submerged caves. At archaeological sites including Chichn Itz and Ek’ Balam, INAH and its collaborators have worked with university partners to produce aerial mapping, photogrammetric models, panoramic imagery and other digital records that can be used for research, conservation and virtual access.
Under the new agreement, that cooperation can expand into areas including LiDAR documentation, artifact conservation, archaeological mapping, data exchange, public education and the long-term management of Mexico’s submerged cultural heritage.
The agreement is also expected to support the Underwater Archaeological Atlas of Cenotes, Flooded and Semi-Flooded Caves, and Other Inland Bodies of Water in the Mexican Republic, a project directed by archaeologist Helena Barba-Meinecke. The atlas seeks to build a broader record of underwater archaeological resources across the country.
CINDAQ brings international recognition to the partnership. The organization is accredited as a non-governmental organization under UNESCO’s 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and is recognized by the United Kingdom’s Nautical Archaeology Society.
The announcement also highlighted the legacy of Pilar Luna Erreguerena, the pioneering Mexican underwater archaeologist who died in 2020. Luna was instrumental in recognizing the contribution that experienced cave divers could make to archaeological research and helped create the foundations for INAH’s long-standing collaboration with CINDAQ.
“Her vision, openness and trust helped establish the foundations of the collaboration with CINDAQ,” the organization’s director, Sam Meacham, said.
By formalizing a partnership developed over more than 20 years, INAH and CINDAQ are seeking to give researchers a stronger framework for exploring some of Mexico’s least accessible archaeological landscapes—places where scientific investigation depends as much on specialized diving and mapping skills as it does on traditional archaeological methods.
