Chichen Itza: An Archaeological Site

 

INTRODUCTION

Very few have heard the name of Chichen Itza but it is one of the seven wonders of the world and very few know its history, modern history, and its additional structures. So no need to go anywhere, this article will be helpful for you and tell you everything that u should know. So let start….

ABOUT

• Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. This archaeological site is located in Tinum Municipality, Yucatan State, Mexico.
• Chichen Itza is occupying an area of 4 square miles (10 square km) in the south-central Yucatan state, Mexico.
• It is located some 90 miles (150 km) east-northeast of Uxmal and 75 miles (120km) east-southwest of the modern city of Merida.
• It is estimated that it was the house of 35000 people and it was the religious, military, political, and commercial center.
• The Chichen Itza was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988.

       SITE DESCRIPTION

• Two big cenotes on the site made it a suitable place for the city and gave the name Chichen Itza which means “at the mouth of the well of the Itza”.
• It is assumed that the Chichen was founded about the 6th century CE, by Maya peoples of the Yucatan Peninsula who had occupied the region since the Pre-classic, or Formative period (1500BCE-300CE).
• The architectural style of the Chichen is known as Puuc, which represents the number of divergences from the style of the Southern lowlands.
• The earliest structure was to the south of the Main Plaza and include the Akabtzib (“House of the Dark Writing”), the Chichanchob (“Red House”), the Iglesia (“Church”), the Casa de Las Monjas (“Nunnery”), and the Observatory El Caracol (“The Snail”)
• In the 10th century, after the collapse of the Maya cities of the Southern lowlands, Chichen was invaded by foreigners. These invaders may have been the Itza from whom the site was named.

CONTRIBUTION OF FOREIGNERS

• The invaders were responsible for the construction of such major buildings as El Castillo (“The Castle”), a pyramid that raised 79feet (24 meters) above the main plaza.
• The El Castillo has 4 sides and each side has 91 stairs and facing the cardinal direction, including the step on the top platform.
• Total combined steps of all four sides are 365 steps that equal the days in the solar year.
• During the spring and autumnal equinoxes, the shadow cast by the setting sun give an appearance of a snake undulating down the stairways.
• A carving of a plumed serpent at the top of the pyramid is the symbol of the Quetzalcoatl (known to the Maya as Kukulcan).

MODERN HISTORY

• In 1843, Chichen Itza gained the popular imagination with the book ‘Incidents Of Travel In Yucatan’ by John Lloyd Stephens. The book is about Stephens’s visit to Yucatan & Maya cities including Chichen Itza.
• During the 1870s & 1880s, visitors to Chichen Itza came with photographic equipment & captured the condition of many buildings.
• Augustus Le Plongeon & his wife Alice Dixon Le Plongeon visited Chichen in 1875 & called it ‘Chaacmol’. They scooped a statue of a figure on its back, knees were drawn up, upper torso raised on its elbows with a plate on its stomach.
• In the 1880s, Teobert Maler & Alfred Maudslay explored Chichen & spent several weeks at the site & took extensive Photographs.
• In 1894, the United States consul, Edward Herbert Thompson visited Yucatan. For 30 years, Thompson explored the ancient city. His discoveries included the excavation of several graves in the Osario and the earliest dated carving upon a lintel in the Temple of the Initial series. He became most famous for dredging the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, where he recovered artifacts of gold, copper & carved jade. He shipped the bulk of the artifacts to the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.
• The Carnegie Institution was awarded by The Mexican government in 1923 & allowed U.S archaeologists to conduct extensive excavation & restoration of Chichen Itza. Carnegie researchers excavated the Temple of Warriors & the Caracol. The Great Ball Court & El Castillo was excavated by the Mexican Government.

• In 1926, Edward Thompson was charged with theft by the Mexican Government, claiming he stole the artifacts from the Cenote Sagrado & smuggled them out of the country. Thompson never returned to Yucatan. He wrote about his research of the Maya culture in the book ‘People of the Serpent’.
• Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology & History supervised two projects to excavate & restore other monuments including the Osario, Akab Dzib & several buildings in Old Chichen.

ADDITIONAL GROUPS:

TEMPLE OF KUKULCAN

This step pyramid stands about 30m high & consists of a series of nine square terraces. In spring & Autumn, the northwest corner of the pyramid casts a series of triangular shadows against the western balustrade on the north side that evokes the appearance of a serpent wriggling down the staircase.

 

GREAT BALL COURT

• The ball court was for playing the game Tlachtli (Pok-ta-Pok) and the court was 545feet (166 meters) long and 223 feet (68 meters) wide.
•  An archaeologist has identified 13 ballcourts for playing in the Chichen Itza.
• Six sculpted reliefs run the length of the walls of the court it showed the victors of the game holding the served head of a member of the losing team.
• On the one end of the court, there was a temple of the Jaguars, inside of which a mural showing warriors laying siege to a village and the temple was 150feet (46 meters).
• The Upper Temple of Jaguar overlooks the court and has an entrance guarded by two large columns carved in the familiar feathered serpent motif and inside there was a large mural that depicts a battle scene.
• The entrance of the Lower Temple of Jaguars opened behind the ball court and there was another Jaguar throne, similar to the one in the inner temple of El Castillo. The outer columns and inner walls of the temple were covered with elaborated bas-relief carvings.

ADDITIONAL STRUCTURES:

SKULL PLATFORM

  The Tzompantli (Skull Platform), shows the clear cultural influence of the central Mexican Plateau. Unlike the tzompantli of the highlands, however, the skulls were impaled vertically rather than horizontally.

 

PLATFORM OF THE EAGLES AND THE JAGUARS

It is immediately to the east of the Great Ballcourt. It was built by the combined style of Maya and Toltec styles with a staircase ascending each of its four sides. The sides were decorated with panels depicting eagles and jaguars consuming human hearts.

THE PLATFORM OF VENUS

This platform was dedicated to the planet Venus. In its interior, there were collections of large cones carved out of stones. This platform is in the north of El Castillo, between it and the Cenote Sagrado.

THE TEMPLES OF TABLES

It is the northernmost of a series of buildings to the east of El Castilo. Its name came from a series of altars at the top of the structure that was supported by small carved figures of men with upraised arms, called “atlantes”.

STEAM BATH

It was a unique building with three parts: a waiting gallery, a water bath, and a steam chamber that operated utilizing heated stones.

 

GROUP OF THOUSAND COLUMNS

• The group of thousand columns is along the south wall of the Temple of Warriors and these columns were intended to support an extensive roof system but they are exposed today as series of pillars.
• The columns are in three distinct sections- a west group extends the lines of the Temple of Warriors.
• The North group runs along the south wall of the Temple of Warriors and contains pillars with a carving of soldiers in bas-relief.
• The South group of the columns is a group of three interconnected buildings- The Temple of the Carved Columns, Temple of the Small Tables, and the Thomson’s Temple.

SACRED CENOTE

Cenote is a region with natural sinkholes that expose the water table to the surface. Cenote Sagrado is one of the most impressive of these. It was a place of pilgrimage for ancient Maya people. Investigations said that thousands of objects have been removed from the bottom of the Cenote including gold, carved jade, copal, rubber & many more.

TEMPLE OF WARRIORS

The Temple of the Warriors complex consists of a large stepped pyramid fronted & flanked by rows of carved columns depicting warriors. The archeological restoration of this building was done by the Carnegie Institution of Washington from 1925 to 1928.