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AMCS Bulletin 12 — Chapter 7 139than at the surface. Irrespective of the generalizedconcept of “cave” alluded to earlier, caves do not providetheir human agents with a clean slate or an emptycanvas on which to transcribe cosmic order. More sothan in the less-bounded spaces of the surface world,the physiography or natural layout of a cave will significantlyinfluence, if not dictate spatial ordering. Thediscretionary reading of caves in some way accountsfor the architectural alteration of water-bearing caveslike Actun Toh but also the placement of shrines orofferings near prominent speleothems in the region’scaves. If to some degree function follows form, thenthe imposition of spatial models as described by Stone(n.d.) is no less meaningful or impacting, but rathermore fluid in nature.Perhaps the ancient Maya perceived an inherentnatural order in caves. In other words, the cave mayhave served as a metaphor for the built environment,just as we believe certain ceremonial buildings functionedas metaphorical caves. This can best be understood interms of the reciprocal nature of metaphors as describedby Houston, which “. . . allows us to resolvesuch questions by acknowledging the indissoluble,almost playful associations between semantic domains”(1998:355). The semiotics of modern Westernspeleological terminology can be revealing and providea structuralist conceptual framework in which toexamine the relationships between the ancient Mayaand the cave environment. Our lexicon makes use ofsuch architectural terms as walls, ceilings, terraces,balconies, columns, shelves, or alcoves to describenatural cave features. This may reveal an anthropocentrictendency to define space on a human scale,wherein flat places become floors, enclosed spacesbecome rooms, and constricted spaces becomeentryways. Furthermore, our use of such terminologyis suggestive of an impulse to cognize caves as bothotherworldly and familiar, or perhaps to reconcile thedisparity between realms by finding the familiar inthe otherworldly. Certainly, the architectural enclosureof natural “rooms,” which can be seen in the cavesof the Alta Verapaz (Carot 1989), in Actun Balam(Pendergast 1969), and in Naj Tunich (Brady 1989),indicates that such spaces were at least perceived asinherently room-like in some way.The question emerges of whether caves representthe order of “community” or the chaos of “wilderness”(Stone 1995:15–18). Stone skillfully negotiates theliterature on Mesoamerican sacred geography, andattempts to find the placement of caves within binarymodels of reality. She offers as an example (1995:16)the Yucatecan concepts of kaah “town or inhabitedspace” and k’aax “forest” (as described by Hanks1990:306). It would appear that the essentially dichotomousspatial mapping of Maya reality assigns cavesto the realm of wild and disordered space. Stone’sevaluation is compelling and well-supported ethnographically;nevertheless, I would argue that cavesshould not necessarily be considered contradictory orantithetical to ordered space, as Stone suggests(1995:16). I have no doubt that caves were, to a significantdegree, considered wild places, which weresubjected to the reactive imposition of spatial models(as described by Stone n.d.). However, the Maya recognitionand appropriation of a cave’s natural abilityto mimic the built environment suggests that the notionof teleologically conceived space coexisted (butwas not necessarily congruent) with the perception ofcave as wilderness.I should stress that these interpretations are basedon a comparative study in an area that is relativelynew to cave archaeology. The proposal of a more flexiblemodel with respect to the conception of cave spaceis essentially the result of observations conducted incaves within this region.Closing RemarksTo better understand the relationships betweencaves and the ancient Maya, it is necessary to lookbeyond a single cave and to evaluate a range of naturaland cultural features both within caves and acrossthe landscape. Emerging patterns of cave use revealedby research in the Yalahau region underscore the importanceof caves as sacred space. This is particularlynoteworthy in northern Yucatan where attention tendsto focus on cave/cenotes as utilitarian water sources.The high water table in the Yalahau region, which allowedshallow natural and artificial wells to replacethe role of the cenote as the critical water source, enabledthe project to isolate the ritual function of cavesand separate it from the function as a water source.The extensive utilization of the caves for ceremonialpurposes documents the fundamental ritual importanceof these landmarks. The findings suggest that similarpatterns of ritual use should be present in caves inother areas as well.While cave water sources do not appear to havebeen critical to the maintenance of human life, theYalahau survey demonstrates that the presence of waterin a cave was a matter of paramount importance. Watersources were the focus of ritual activity even wherelong arduous crawls were required to reach very modestsized pools. In some caves, evidence of regularmaintenance was recorded and many of the pools aremarked by the presence of rock art. Thus, the region’s