Beneath the Maya world: cenotes and caves of the Yucatán

Dzibilchaltún cenote. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Balankanché cave. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Dzom-Bacal cenote. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Handprints inside Loltun cave. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

X’batún cenote. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Loltun cave. Photo by Joshua Albers.

Dzibilchaltún cenote. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Drama, humor, and naturalism in Maya sculptures of the human form

Statue of a warrior on the east side of the Codz Poop, Kabah. Photo by Joshua Albers.

On view at the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, Mérida. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Late Classic Jaina Male Figure, 650/800 CE. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Late Classic Maya Stela from the vicinity of Calakmul, 702 CE. Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Figurine on view at the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, Mérida. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Reproduction of a Jaina figure from the Classic period (250—900 CE). On view at Baluarte de la Soledad, Campeche. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Anthropomorphic torso from the Late Classic period. This painted figure is a rare example of the kind of figures that originally decorated architectural façades and roof combs. On view at the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, Mérida. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.

Face carved into shell. On view at the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, Mérida. Photo by Renée DeVoe Mertz.