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practice has long since been abandoned in Actun Tohand upon recent examination, the pool appeared to benonexistent (leading to the original assumption thatthe cave was dry). An archaeological excavation ofthe accumulated debris revealed the water table below.This practice of ancient cave maintenance wasalso identified in Actun Pak Ch’en, where the periodicremoval of debris continues today.As with the drawing of water from the Gruta deChac, the maintenance activities noted above mighthave been highly ritualized affairs judging from thedescription of similar activities in Zinacantan. Springs,often located in caves, are vital water sources aroundwhich social groups form. Lineages take their namesfrom their water holes and myths tell how the groupreceived access to the water in exchange for cleaningand caring for the spring (Vogt 1976:99). While waterholes are generally the domain of women, the cleaningis done exclusively by men and no women arepresent (Vogt 1976:102). The cleaning crews includemayordomos, shamans, and musicians that play duringthe work. Bricker (1973:114) has recorded someof the ritual humor that accompanies the cleaning.Once again, the gender inversion noted by bothStephens and Vogt attests to the non-quotidian aspectsof water source maintenance.In Actun Tsub, a natural aperture in the cave-floorreveals a large pool eight meters below. This openingwas artificially augmented to facilitate a rope-andbucketretrieval method. Additionally, a second verticalentrance to the cave was chipped through the bedrockdirectly above the enlarged mouth of the well so thatwater could be easily procured from the surface. Suchevidence is a clear indication of the importance of cavewater collection—perhaps more so than broken potteryvessels, whose presence can be explained in otherways.As mentioned in the chapter on Actun Tsub (4.8),the cave has two entrances— both of which appear toFigure 7.3. Telchaquillo Cenote (after Brainerd 1958:map 9).AMCS Bulletin 12 — Chapter 7 135have been in use. This arrangement is similar to thecenotes at Telchaquillo and Mani, as illustrated byBrainerd (1958: maps 9 and 12, respectively). Thepools in both cenotes can either be accessed from thesurface via vertical shafts (marked by collars), or bydescending into the cave itself via secondary entrances(see figures 7.3 and 7.4). Thompson (1975:xxi) providesan ethnographic description that appears to relateto this in noting, “the holy water used in baptism bythe Maya of Quintana Roo is fetched from a secludedopening to the town cenote to which women nevercome.” This suggests that some cenotes had both privateand public (sacred and profane) aspects. Redfieldand Villa Rojas describe how the pursuit of remoteand sacred cave water is the task of men (1934:139),while “the rim of the cenote is a woman’s precinct”(1934:70). The use of two different routes for the samewater source may have been divided along genderlines. Interestingly, in the ethnographic cases, bothwomen and men used the same water source, but themanner in which the water was collected affected itsperceived qualities.Ancient mounds are located in the immediate vicinityof seven of the eight water-bearing caves in thesurvey. It appears that wet caves were important landmarksin the cultural geography of the region and werelikely the focus of territorial organization and control.This is well illustrated by an unnamed cave northof Actun Toh (SJ-1) whose vertical entrance lies withinthe midst of a small plaza. Actun Tsub, Actun Pech,and Actun Toh all appear to be directly related to surfacestructures.A cave need not possess a pool to be a site of watercollection. Two of the shallow, dry rockshelters inthe survey contain haltunes, which were placed beneaththe drip-line. These stone troughs were reportedearly on by Mercer (1896: fig. 5, fig. 39) and are quitecommon in caves across the northern lowlands. Ceramicvessels positioned beneath dripping stalactiteshave been reported in deeper cavesthroughout the Maya area (see McNatt1996:85–86; see also Thompson 1975:xvxxii). J. Eric S. Thompson (1975:xx; seealso 1959:125) rightly asserts that suchvessels were likely intended to collect water(suhuy ha) for ritual purposes ratherthan for drinking. He mentions the site ofLas Cuevas in Belize (1975:xviii–xix),where the stream outside a cave wouldhave been a more practical source ofdrinking water than the dripping stalactiteslocated deep within the cave’s interior. Theavailability of non-cave water in the