Chultunes and aguadas

Quick answer

A chultun (plural chultunes, or chultunob' in Maya) is a bottle-shaped chamber the Maya dug into the limestone. An aguada is a natural or improved pond lined with clay. Both were used where cenotes were missing, mainly in the Puuc hills of Yucatán, where the water table is too deep to reach.

Why some Maya cities had no cenotes

In the north of the peninsula the water table sits close to the surface, so cenotes are everywhere. In the Puuc hills (Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Labná) the ground is higher and the water lies far below, so there are almost no cenotes. Cities there could only grow by catching and storing rain from the wet season (about June to October) for the long dry season.

How a chultun worked

• Shape: a narrow neck opening into a wider chamber below, like a bottle.
• Plaster: the walls were coated with lime plaster to stop water seeping into the rock.
• Catchment: plastered patios and floors sloped toward the opening, so rain flowed in.
• Lid: a stone cover kept out dirt and animals and cut evaporation.
• Size: many held several thousand litres; large Puuc chultunes are reported at tens of thousands of litres.

Not every chultun held water

In the southern lowlands, around Tikal for example, many chultunes were dry and were probably used for storage, and some later as burials. Archaeologists still debate what was stored: food, seeds or other goods (reported, Penn Museum). In the Puuc, most chultunes were clearly water cisterns.

What an aguada is

An aguada is a shallow pond, often a natural hollow that the Maya cleaned out and lined with clay or stones to stop leaks. Some had wells dug into their floors and reservoirs fed by channels. They provided water for many people, while chultunes served a house or a group of houses.

Chultun vs aguada vs cenote

• Cenote: natural sinkhole reaching groundwater; water all year.
• Chultun: man-made underground cistern storing rain; one household or patio.
• Aguada: natural or improved surface pond; shared by a community.
• Reservoir: large built tanks, as at Tikal, for whole cities.

Religious meaning

Like cenotes, chultunes were openings into the earth and were linked with water, rain and the underworld. Offerings and burials have been found in some of them (reported, Wikipedia).

Where to see chultunes today

• Uxmal and Kabah: chultun openings are visible near buildings.
• Sayil and Labná on the Ruta Puuc.
• Some are marked by small stone rings in the ground; never climb into one.
• Combine the Ruta Puuc with cenotes near Mérida or Homún on another day.