Research Article Spatial and Physical Characteristics of Rejolladas in Northern Yucat ´ an, Mexico: Implications for Ancient Maya Agriculture and Settlement Patterns Mandy J. Munro-Stasiuk, 1, * T. Kam Manahan, 2 Trent Stockton, 3 and Traci Ardren 4 1 Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 2 Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 3 Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 4 Department of Anthropology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida Correspondence * Corresponding author; E-mail: mmunrost@kent.edu Received 27 November 2011 Revised 29 August 2013 Accepted 19 September 2013 Scientific editing by Nicholas Dunning Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). doi 10.1002/gea.21468 This study evaluates the importance of rejolladas to the Ancient Maya in and around the Classic Maya center of Xuenkal, Yucat ´ an State, Mexico. Rejolladas are collapse sinkholes with bases above the local water table. We present a spatial and physical analysis of 186 rejolladas in a 10 × 10 km area centered on Xuenkal. Basal diameters range from ∼22 to 264 m, areas range from 0.04 to 5.48 ha, and depths range from 4 to 12 m. Spatial density ranges from 0 to 8 rejolladas/km 2 with higher densities coinciding with known Ancient Maya settlements. Within Xuenkal, residential groups tend to be organized around and focused on the rejolladas. Some rejolladas have modified slopes that may be remnants of terraces or entry paths. High-resolution satellite imagery anal- ysis demonstrates that rejolladas have denser and healthier vegetation than the surrounding landscape especially in the dry season. Microclimate data demon- strate that the bottom of rejolladas has less extreme diurnal temperature ranges, lower daytime highs, higher atmospheric moisture, and significantly higher and more stable soil moisture. Based on the archaeology at Xuenkal, it appears that the Ancient Maya recognized and actively exploited these environmen- tal microniches for intensive cultivation both locally and regionally. C  2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. INTRODUCTION The relatively flat limestone-dominated Northern Low- lands of the Yucat ´ an Peninsula, Mexico (Figure 1) are no more than 40 m above sea level (asl), and contain thousands of sinkholes that puncture the terrain. The sinkholes are typically round in shape, have moderate to steep sides (Weidie, 1985; Gonzalez de la Mata, 2006; Houck, 2006; Munro-Stasiuk & Manahan, 2010), and are the product of surface collapses, subsurface solution, or a combination thereof (L ´ opez, 2008). They often allow access to groundwater, which may or may not be ex- posed in the base of the sinkholes, making them partic- ularly desirable places for the modern Maya to directly access water, dig wells, and plant fruit crops. Contempo- rary classification of the sinkholes is based on indigenous typological distinctions related to proximity to the wa- ter table (Houck, 2006) and there are three main types (Figure 2). The best-known sinkholes are cenotes (derived from the Yucatec Maya name dzonot) (Hall, 1936), which have bases well below the water table sometimes result- ing in extraordinarily deep water (Beddows, 2004). An intermediate type is dzadzob (singular dzadz; also known as aguadas or nauahuelas), which touch the water table but do not significantly penetrate it. Finally, rejolladas (also known as ko’op in Yucatec Maya), and the focus of this study, are surface collapses that do not reach the water table and remain dry throughout the year (Figure 3). All sinkhole types had economic, environmental, and sometimes ideological importance to the Ancient Maya. Cenotes that represent the only major access to water in the region were the most revered, and were considered as sacred portals that allowed communication with rain and fertility deities (Morley, 1946; Tozzer, 1957; Proskouri- akoff, 1974; Houston, 2010). In the Northern Lowlands, 156 Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 29 (2014) 156–172 Copyright C  2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.