PLAYA DEL CARMEN.- Deep beneath the clear waters of Cenote Yaakun, underwater archaeologists are documenting the skeletal remains of a young woman who may have lived in the region centuries ago. The local custodians of the site have named her Yatzil, a Maya name meaning “beloved person,” inspired by the cenote’s own name, Yaakun, which translates as “to love.”
The remains are at the center of a newly established research project led by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, or INAH. The initiative seeks to document and protect Yatzil, along with pottery and other archaeological materials lying at depths of more than 40 meters beneath the surface.
Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, said the discovery demonstrates the importance of cooperation between researchers and local communities in protecting archaeological heritage.
“Every archaeological discovery that we are able to protect through collaboration with communities strengthens our knowledge of the cultures that inhabited this territory and reaffirms that heritage is a shared responsibility,” Curiel de Icaza said. “Scientific research and public participation are essential to preserving these contexts intact and passing them on to future generations.”
INAH’s Underwater Archaeology Division received a report during the final months of 2025 from the custodians of the cenote, who had been alerted by technical divers to the presence of culturally significant materials in the depths of the open sinkhole.
After reviewing the initial report, georeferenced maps and other available information, archaeologists organized a five-day field survey. Underwater archaeology specialist Gustavo García García carried out a series of dives at depths ranging from 42 to 53 meters.
The survey identified two separate archaeological concentrations approximately 30 meters apart. One contained ceramic vessels, while the other held human skeletal remains alongside the bones of an animal.
Photogrammetric documentation of both areas allowed researchers to create detailed three-dimensional records without disturbing the materials. The findings led to the formal creation of the Cenote Yaakun Research Project, which has been authorized by INAH’s Council of Archaeology.
The project’s immediate priority is to prevent the objects from being moved, damaged or looted. A protective perimeter is being established around the two archaeological areas so that divers maintain a safe distance.
With the cooperation of the property owners and the cenote’s custodians, diving groups are also being asked not to touch, remove, reposition or vandalize any of the remains or objects.
According to García García, the custodians are particularly committed to protecting the human remains. A preliminary examination by Salvador Isab Estrada, a physical anthropologist with the Underwater Archaeology Division, suggests that the skeleton belonged to a woman. It was the custodians who proposed calling her Yatzil.
Beyond a cloud of hydrogen sulfide, the cenote opens into a chamber reaching more than 80 meters in depth. Along a sloping section of the underwater landscape lie the archaeological materials documented by the research team.
On the northern side, between 42 and 46 meters below the surface, archaeologists recorded Yatzil’s bones together with the remains of an animal. On the southern side, at depths of 46, 48 and 53 meters, they found three rounded ceramic vessels believed to have been used for domestic purposes. One vessel remains complete, while the other two are fragmented.
“Several elements remain in their original positions, although some fragments of the human skull have been moved,” García García said. “That is why we continue to emphasize the fragility of these archaeological contexts. The goal is to preserve them in situ and to work with the community and diving groups to protect them.”
Researchers did not remove any human or animal bones during the first field season. Only one ceramic fragment was recovered for study.
Although a detailed comparison with known ceramic types is still pending, the fragment’s visible characteristics suggest a connection with the Maya culture of the eastern coast. García García said it may date from the Late Postclassic period, between 1200 and 1521.
Researchers have not yet established whether the human remains belong to the same period as the pottery.
Estrada’s osteobiological examination identified parts of the upper and lower limbs, including humeri, radii, femurs and tibias, as well as the pelvis. Archaeologists also recorded the left portion of the lower jaw, which retains three molars.
The limited degree of dental wear, together with the loss of a premolar, suggests that the woman was between 18 and 25 years old at the time of her death.
The researchers remain cautious about assigning Yatzil a specific date or cultural identity. Further study will require the recovery of a small sample, possibly from a tooth, which is often one of the best skeletal sources for obtaining well-preserved DNA.
Collecting such a sample may become one of the objectives of a second field season planned for 2027.
The remains are currently in an unusually good state of preservation, aided by the cenote’s stable underwater conditions, including its temperature, limited light and considerable depth. Even so, the researchers warned that human activity poses an immediate threat to the integrity of the site.
Cenote Yaakun will be entered into the Archaeological Atlas of Caves and Cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula, a registry intended to improve the documentation and protection of submerged archaeological sites across the region.
For INAH, the project represents both a scientific investigation and a test of community-based preservation. By leaving the remains and vessels in place, researchers hope to protect not only the individual objects but also the spatial relationships that may eventually reveal how and why they entered the cenote.
The agency said the project reinforces its commitment to formal archaeological research and to the in situ conservation of Quintana Roo’s extensive underwater cultural heritage.
