Imagine diving deep into an underwater cave and discovering Maya treasures that have been untouched for centuries. Now, imagine doing that as a career. Dr. Guillermo de Anda is an underwater archaeologist and a 2012 Emerging Explorer.

Early Work
Guillermo remembers his uncle taking him to a museum in Mexico City, Mexico, at a very young age. As they descended to the anthropology exhibit in the basement, Guillermo recalls vividly walking towards a display of human skulls.

"When I saw the skulls, that’s when I knew I really wanted to know what had happened to those people," he says.

In addition to his fascination with archaeology and exploration, Guillermo was also always interested in becoming a diver.

"When I found out you could be an underwater archaeologist, I thought it was perfect," he says.

Most Exciting Part of Your Work
"Fortunately, there have been lots of exciting things about my career, but one of the most exciting was probably the offering that we found in the cenotes three years ago."

Most Demanding Part of Your Work
"The preparation to go in and out of the water is difficult," he says. "You also have to stay a long time under the water. Sometimes we will spend six or seven hours in the water. That’s the most demanding part because you still have to go back, you’re tired, cold, hungry."

How Do You Define Geography?
Guillermo says he uses "sacred geography" to map where Maya cities are located. "The sacred geography of the Maya is important because it’s exactly why we are doing our work. It has to do with caves, cenotes, the mountains, the woods, and the wind. So, if you pay attention to all of that and look at some iconology from the Maya, you’re going to see the sacred geography is always related," he says.

Geo-Connection
A cenote is a cave-like pool the Maya civilization often used as a place for sacrificial ceremonies. Since Guillermo’s work has revolved around the Mayan, it is in these cenotes where you can usually find him, laced head-to-toe in diving gear, ready to take a plunge for archaeology.

"It requires a lot of skills to be a diver. We have a saying that it’s easier to train someone to be an archaeologist than to be a cave diver," he says.

It takes time and patience to be an underwater archaeologist. It also requires being constantly aware of your surroundings, and how those surroundings have changed over time.

Three years ago, after spending hours in the blue abyss, Guillermo found an extraordinary Maya offering in one of the cenotes.

"The offering is under the water, but when we examined it closely, we understood that it could not have been underwater when they placed it, the water level was lower."

Guillermo discovered the offering inside the very important Maya city, Chichen Itza. (Today, a site in the state of Yucatan, Mexico.) The space was full of carefully placed items and bones that had never been touched prior to Guillermo and his crew of divers.

This was not the only stimulating discovery Guillermo has made. Recently, he has had the opportunity to examine Maya bones discovered underwater in the 1960s—and dispel some common myths.

Before Guillermo was able to analyze the bones, many people thought that most of the Maya who were sacrificed were young, beautiful women. Guillermo’s study revealed startling new evidence that this was not the case.

"What I found is there is a lot of children—more than 80 percent, between three and 11 years—and they had a lot of marks on the body. It was a ritual, but it’s very hard for us to understand," he says.

Some anthropologists speculate that the children may have been sacrificed to appease the rain god, Chaac. Guillermo has developed another theory.

Many of the children, he noted, had severe cavities. "Maybe these were dead children," he says. "They were dead already and they were offered. To dignify these children’s’ death, they were offered to the gods."

Regardless of theories that have been developed, "it’s hard to understand because it’s a completely different mindset that will never be able to completely understand," Guillermo says.

So, You Want To Be an ... Underwater Archaeologist
"Continue with your education. Go to college for archaeology. An archaeologist is someone who knows about a lot of different subjects. You have to read a lot and you have to be prepared to spend time in the field.

"If you want to be an underwater archaeologist you really have to read a lot and learn how to dive at a young age. If you start early, that’s going to help a lot."

Get Involved
"In the U.S. there are a lot of [archaeology] organizations that allow volunteers. I think it’s a fantastic idea," Guillermo says.