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Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Criteria	Cultural: i, ii, iii
Reference	483
Inscription	1988 (12th Session)

Chichen Itza (Template:PronEng); from Template:Lang-yua, "At the mouth of the well of the Itza") is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, present-day Mexico.

Chichen Itza was a major regional focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called “Mexicanized” and reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.

Archaeological data, such as evidence of burning at a number of important structures and architectural complexes, suggest that Chichen Itza's collapse was violent. Following the decline of Chichen Itza's hegemony, regional power in the Yucatán shifted to a new center at Mayapan.

The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, INAH). The land under the monuments, however, is privately-owned by the Barbachano family.

Name and orthography

The Maya name "Chich'en Itza" means "At the mouth of the well of the Itza." This derives from chi', meaning "mouth" or "edge", and ch'e'en, meaning "well." Itzá is the name of an ethnic-lineage group that gained political and economic dominance of the northern peninsula. The name is believed to derive from the Maya itz, meaning "magic," and (h)á, meaning "water." Itzá in Spanish is often translated as "Brujas del Agua (Witches of Water)" but a more precise translation would be Magicians of Water.

The name is often represented as Chichén Itzá in Spanish and when translated into other languages from Spanish to show that both parts of the name are stressed on their final syllables. Other references prefer to employ a more rigorous orthography in which the word is written according to Maya language, using Chich'en Itzá IPA: [tʃitʃʼen itsáʔ]. This form preserves the phonemic distinction between and , since the base word ch'e'en (which, however, does have a neutral tone vowel "e" in Maya and is not accented or stressed in Maya) begins with a glottalized affricate. The word "Itzá'" has a high rise final "a" that is followed by a glottal stop (indicated by the apostrophe).

There is evidence in the Books of the Chilam Balams that there was another, earlier name for this city prior to the arrival of the Itza hegemony in northern Yucatán. This name is difficult to define because of the absence of a single standard of orthography, but it is represented variously as Uuc Yabnal, Uuc Habnal, Uuc Hab Nal, or Uc Abnal. While most sources agree the first word means seven, there is considerable debate as to the correct translation of the rest. Among the translations suggested are “Seven Bushes,” “Seven Year Corn,” “Seven Stone Corn,” “Seven Lots of Corn,” or “Seven Caves.”

History of Chichen Itza

Northern Yucatán is arid, and the interior has no above-ground rivers. There are two large, natural sink holes, called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at Chichen, making it attractive for settlement. Of the two cenotes, the "Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote, is the more famous. According to post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac. American Consul Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, and recovered artifacts of gold, jade, pottery, and incense, as well as human remains. A recent study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice.

Ascendancy

Chichen Itza rose to regional prominence towards the end of the Early Classic period (or, roughly 600 AD). It was, however, towards the end of the Late Classic and into the early part of the Terminal Classic that the site became a major regional capitol, centralizing and dominating political, sociocultural, economic, and ideological life in the northern Maya lowlands. The ascension of Chichen Itza roughly correlates with the decline and fragmentation of the major centers of the southern Maya lowlands, such as Tikal.

Some ethnohistoric sources claim that in about 987 a Toltec king named Quetzalcoatl arrived here with an army from central Mexico, and (with local Maya allies) made Chichen Itza his capital, and a second Tula. The art and architecture from this period shows an interesting mix of Maya and Toltec styles. However, the recent re-dating of Chichen Itza's decline (see below) indicates that Chichen Itza is largely a Late/Terminal Classic site, while Tula remains an Early Postclassic site (thus reversing the direction of possible influence).

Political organization

Unlike previous Maya polities of the Early Classic, Chichen Itza was not governed by an individual ruler or a single dynastic lineage. Instead, according to Sharer and Traxler (2006:581), the city’s political organization was structured by a "multepal" system, which is characterized as rulership through council. The council was composed of members of elite ruling lineages.

Economy

Chichen Itza was a major economic power in the northern Maya lowlands during its apogee. Participating in the water-borne circum-peninsular trade route through its port site of Isla Cerritos, Chichen Itza was able to obtain locally unavailable resources from distant areas such as central Mexico (obsidian) and southern Central America (gold).

Decline of Chichen Itza

The Maya chronicles record that in 1221 a revolt and civil war broke out, and archaeological evidence seemed to confirm that the wooden roofs of the great market and the Temple of the Warriors were burned at about this date. Chichen Itza went into decline as rulership over Yucatán shifted to Mayapan.

This long-held chronology, however, has been drastically revised in recent years. As archaeologists improve their knowledge of changes in regional ceramics, and more radiocarbon dates arise out of ongoing work at Chichen Itza, the end of this Maya capital is now being pushed back over 200 years. Archaeological data now indicates that Chichen Itza fell by around AD 1000. This leaves an enigmatic gap between the fall of Chichen Itza and its successor, Mayapan. Ongoing research at the site of Mayapan may help resolve this chronological conundrum.

While the site itself was never completely abandoned, the population declined and no major new constructions were built following its political collapse. The Sacred Cenote, however, remained a place of pilgrimage.

In 1531 Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo claimed Chichén Itzá and intended to make it the capital of Spanish Yucatán, but after a few months a native Maya revolt drove Montejo and his forces from the land.

The site

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The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation; the buildings were formerly used as temples, palaces, stages, markets, baths, and ballcourts.

El Castillo

Dominating the center of Chichén is the Temple of Kukulkan (the Maya name for Quetzalcoatl), often referred to as "El Castillo" (the castle). This step pyramid has a ground plan of square terraces with stairways up each of the 4 sides to the temple on top. On the Spring and Fall equinox, at the rising and setting of the sun, the corner of the structure casts a shadow in the shape of a plumed serpent - Kukulcan, or Quetzalcoatl - along the side of the North staircase. On these two days, the shadows from the corner tiers slither down the northern side of the pyramid with the sun's movement.

Mesoamerican cultures periodically built larger pyramids atop older ones, and this is one such example. In the mid 1930s, the Mexican government sponsored an excavation into El Castillo. After several false starts, they discovered a staircase under the north side of the pyramid. By digging from the top, they found another temple buried below the current one. Inside the temple chamber was a Chac Mool statue and a throne in the shape of jaguar, painted red with spots made of inlaid jade.

The Mexican government excavated a tunnel from the base of the north staircase, up the earlier pyramid’s stairway to the hidden temple, and opened it to tourists. In 2006, INAH closed the throne room to the public.

Temple of the Warriors

The Temple of the Warriors complex consists of a large stepped pyramid fronted and flanked by rows of carved columns depicting warriors. This complex is analogous to Temple B at the Toltec capital of Tula, and indicates some form of cultural contact between the two regions. The one at Chichen Itza, however, was constructed on a larger scale. At the top of the stairway on the pyramid’s summit (and leading towards the entrance of the pyramid’s temple) is a Chac Mool.

Near the Warriors' Temple is a large plaza surrounded by pillars called "The Great Market."

The Great Ball Court

Archaeologists have identified seven courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame in Chichén, but the Great Ball Court about 150 meters to the north-west of the Castillo is by far the most impressive. It is the largest ball court in ancient Mesoamerica. It measures 166 by 68 meters (545 by 232 feet). The imposing walls are 12 meters high, and in the center, high up on each of the long walls, are rings carved with intertwining serpents.

At the base of the high interior walls are slanted benches with sculpted panels of teams of ball players. In one panel, one of the players has been decapitated and from the wound emits seven streams of blood; six become wriggling serpents and the center becomes a winding plant.

At one end of the Great Ball Court is the North Temple, popularly called the Temple of the Bearded Man. This small masonry building has detailed bas relief carving on the inner walls, including a center figure that has carving under his chin that resembles facial hair. At the south end is another, much bigger temple, but in ruins.

Built into east wall are the Temples of the Jaguar. The Upper Temple of the Jaguar overlooks the ball court and has an entrance guarded by two, large columns carved in the familiar feathered serpent motif. Inside there is a large mural, much destroyed, which depicts a battle scene.

In the entrance to the Lower Temple of the Jaguar, which opens behind the ball court, is another jaguar throne, similar to the one in the inner temple of El Castillo, except that it is well worn and missing paint or other decoration. The outer columns and the walls inside the temple are covered with elaborate bas-relief carvings.

Behind this platform is a walled inscription which depicts a tzompantli (rack of impaled human skulls) in relief.

High Priest's Temple

This step-pyramid temple is a smaller version of El Castillo; the name comes from an elite burial discovered by early excavator E. H. Thompson.

Las Monjas

One of the more notable structures at Chichen Itza is a complex of Terminal Classic buildings constructed in the Puuc architectural style. The Spanish nicknamed this complex Las Monjas ("The Nuns" or "The Nunnery") but was actually a governmental palace. Just to the east is a small temple (nicknamed La Iglesia, "The Church") decorated with elaborate masks of the rain god Chaac.

A number of other structures are near the "Monjas" complex. These include:

• "The Red House"
• "The House of the Deer"

El Caracol

To the north of Las Monjas is a round building on a large square platform nicknamed El Caracol or "the snail" for the stone spiral staircase inside. This structure was an observatory with its doors aligned to view the vernal equinox, the Moon's greatest northern and southern declinations, and other astronomical events sacred to Kukulcan, the feathered-serpent god of the wind and learning. The Maya used the shadows inside the room cast from the angle of the sun hitting the doorway to tell when the solstices would occur. Placed around the edge of El Caracol are large rock cups that they filled with water and would watch the reflection of the stars in the water to help determine their complex, but extremely accurate calendar system.

Akab Dzib

Located to the east of the Caracol, Akab Dzib means, in Maya, "The House of Mysterious Writing." An earlier name of the building, according to a translation of glyphs in the Casa Colorada, is Wa(k)wak Puh Ak Na, "the flat house with the excessive number of chambers,” and it was the home of the administrator of Chichén Itzá, kokom Yahawal Cho' K’ak’. INAH completed a restoration of the building in 2007. It is relatively short, only 6 meters high, and is 50 meters in length and 15 meters wide. The long, western-facing facade has seven doorways. The eastern facade has only four doorways, broken by a large staircase that leads to the roof. This apparently was the front of the structure, and looks out over what is today a steep, but dry, cenote. The southern end of the building has one entrance. The door opens into a small chamber and on the opposite wall is another doorway, above which on the lintel are intricately carved glyphs—the “mysterious” or “obscure” writing that gives the building its name today. Under the lintel in the door jamb is another carved panel of a seated figure surrounded by more glyphs. Inside one of the chambers, near the ceiling, is a painted hand print.

Old Chichen

"Old Chichen" is the nickname for a group of structures to the south of the central site. It includes the Initial Series Group, the Phallic Temple, the Platform of the Great Turtle, the Temple of the Owls, and the Temple of the Monkeys.

Other structures

Chichen Itza also has a variety of other structures densely packed in the ceremonial center of about 5 km² (2 mile²) and several outlying subsidiary sites.

Caves of Balankanche

Approximately 4 km west of the Chichen Itza archaeological zone are a network of sacred caves known as Balankanche (Template:Lang-es), Balamka'anche' in Modern Maya). In the caves, a large selection of ancient pottery and idols may be seen still in the positions where they were left in pre-Columbian times.

The location of the cave has been well known in modern times. Edward Thompson and Alfred Tozzer visited it in 1905. A.S. Pearse and a team of biologists explored the cave in 1932 and 1936. E. Wyllys Andrews IV also explored the cave in the 1930s. Edwin Shook and R.E. Smith explored the cave on behalf of the Carnegie Institution in 1954, and dug several trenches to recover potsherds and other artifacts. Shook determined that the cave had been inhabited over a long period, at least from the Preclassic to the post-conquest era.

On 15 September 1959, José Humberto Gómez, a local guide, discovered a false wall in the cave. Behind it he found an extended network of caves with significant quantities of undisturbed archaeological remains, including pottery and stone-carved censers, stone implements and jewelry. INAH converted the cave into an underground museum, and the objects after being catalogued were returned to their original place so visitors can see them in situ.

Archaeological investigations

Chichén Itzá entered the popular imagination in 1843 with the book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens (with illustrations by Frederick Catherwood). The book recounted Stephens’ visit to Yucatan and his tour of Maya cities, including Chichén Itzá. The book prompted other explorations of the city. In 1860, Desire Charnay surveyed Chichén Itzá and took numerous photographs that he published in Cités et ruines américaines (1863).

In 1875, Augustus Le Plongeon and his wife Alice Dixon Le Plongeon visited Chichén, and excavated a statue of a figure on its back, knees drawn up, upper torso raised on its elbows with a plate on its stomach. Augustus Le Plongeon called it “Chaacmol” (later renamed “Chac Mool,” which has been the term to describe all types of this statuary found in Mesoamerica). Teobert Maler and Alfred Maudslay explored Chichén in the 1880s and both spent several weeks at the site and took extensive photographs. Maudslay published the first long-form description of Chichén Itzá in his book, Biologia Centrali-Americana.

In 1894 the United States Consul to Yucatán, Edward H. Thompson purchased the Hacienda Chichen, which included the ruins of Chichen Itzá. For 30 years, Thompson explored the ancient city. His discoveries included the earliest dated carving upon a lintel in the Temple of the Initial Series and the excavation of several graves in the Ossario (High Priest’s Temple). Thompson is most famous for dredging the Cenote Sagrado (Sacred Cenote) from 1904 to 1910, where he recovered artifacts of gold, copper and carved jade, as well as the first-ever examples of what were believed to be pre-Columbian Maya cloth and wooden weapons. Thompson shipped the bulk of the artifacts to the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.

In 1913, archaeologist Sylvanus G. Morley persuaded the Carnegie Institution to fund an extensive archaeological project at Chichén Itzá, which included mapping the ruins and restoring several of the monuments. The Mexican Revolution and the following government instability prevented the Carnegie from beginning work until 1924. Over the course of 10 years, the Carnegie researchers excavated and restored the Temple of Warriors and the Caracol. At the same time, the Mexican government excavated and restored El Castillo and the Great Ball Court.

In 1926, the Mexican government charged Edward Thompson with theft, claiming he stole the artifacts from the Cenote Sagrado and smuggled them out of the country. The government seized the Hacienda Chichén. Thompson, who was in the United States at the time, never returned to Yucatán. He wrote about his research and investigations of the Maya culture in a book People of the Serpent published in 1932. He died in New Jersey in 1935. In 1944 the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that Thompson had broken no laws and returned Chichén Itzá to his heirs. The Thompsons sold the hacienda to tourism pioneer Fernando Barbachano Peon, and his heirs own the property today.

There have been two later expeditions to recover artifacts from the Cenote Sagrado, in 1961 and 1967. The first was sponsored by the National Geographic, and the second by private interests. Both projects were supervised by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). INAH has conducted an ongoing effort to excavate and restore other monuments in the archaeological zone, including the Ossario, Akab D’zib, and several buildings in Chichén Viejo (Old Chichen).

Tourism

Tourism has been a factor at Chichen Itza for more than a century. John Lloyd Stephens, who popularized the Maya Yucatan in the public’s imagination with his book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, inspired many to make a pilgrimage to Chichén Itzá. Even before the book was published, Benjamin Norman and Baron Emmanuel de Friederichsthal traveled to Chichen after meeting Stephens, and both published the results of what they found.

After Edward Thompson in 1894 purchased the Hacienda Chichén, which included Chichen Itza, he received a constant stream of visitors. In 1910 he announced his intention to construct a hotel on his property, but abandoned those plans, probably because of the Mexican Revolution.

In the early 1920s, a group of Yucatecans, led by writer/photographer Francisco Gomez Rul, began working toward expanding tourism to Yucatán. They urged Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto to build roads to the more famous monuments, including Chichen Itza. In 1923, Governor Carrillo Puerto officially opened the highway to Chichen Itza. Gomez Rul published one of the first guidebooks to Yucatán and the ruins.

Gomez Rul's son-in-law, Fernando Barbachano Peon (a grandnephew of former Yucatán Governor Miguel Barbachano), started Yucatán’s first official tourism business in the early 1920s. He began by meeting passengers that arrived by steamship to Progreso, the port north of Merida, and persuading them to spend a week in Yucatán, after which they would catch the next steamship to their next destination. In his first year Barbachano Peon reportedly was only able to convince seven passengers to leave the ship and join him on a tour. In the mid-1920s Barbachano Peon persuaded Edward Thompson to sell five acres of property next to Chichen for a hotel. In 1927, the Mayaland Hotel opened, just north of the Hacienda Chichén, which had been taken over by the Carnegie Institution.

In 1944, Barbachano Peon purchased all of the Hacienda Chichén, including Chichen Itza, from the heirs of Edward Thompson. Around that same time the Carnegie completed its work at Chichen Itza and abandoned the Hacienda Chichén, which Barbachano turned into another seasonal hotel.

In 1972, Mexico enacted the Ley Federal Sobre Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicas, Artísticas e Históricas (Federal Law over Monuments and Archeological, Artistic and Historic Sites) that put all the nation's pre-Columbian monuments, including those at Chichen Itza, under federal ownership. There were now hundreds, if not thousands of visitors every year to Chichen Itza, and more were expected with the development of Cancún resort area to the east.

In the 1980s, Chichen Itza began to receive an influx of visitors on the day of the spring equinox. Today several thousand show up to see the light-and-shadow effect on the Temple of Kukulcan in which the feathered serpent god supposedly can be seen to crawl down the side of the pyramid.

Chichen Itza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the second-most visited of Mexico's archaeological sites. The archaeological site draws many visitors from the popular tourist resort of Cancún, who make a day trip on tourist buses. In 2007, Chichen Itza's El Castillo was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World after a worldwide vote. Despite the fact that the vote was sponsored by a commercial enterprise, and that its methodology was criticized, the vote was embraced by government and tourism officials in Mexico who project that as a result of the publicity the number of tourists expected to visit Chichen will double by 2012. The ensuing publicity re-ignited debate in Mexico over the ownership of the site, with some representatives of the government such as the secretary of the parliamentary culture committee, Jose Alfonso Suarez del Real, calling for the land to be returned to public ownership, by expropriation if necessary.

Over the past several years, INAH, which manages the site, has been closing monuments to public access. While visitors can walk around them, they can no longer climb them or go inside their chambers. The most recent was El Castillo, which was closed after a San Diego, Calif., woman fell to her death in 2006.

Notes

1. See also "Chichén Itzá". English Pronunciation Guide to the Names of People, Places, and Stuff. Inogolo. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
2. Barrera Vásquez et al., 1980, Cordemex dictionary
3. Concerning the legal basis of the ownership of Chichen and other sites of patrimony, see Breglia (2006), in particular Chapter 3, "Chichen Itza, a Century of Privatization". Regarding ongoing conflicts over the ownership of Chichen Itza, see Castañeda (2005).
4. The word uuc (uc’ or uuk) in Maya means “seven.” The second word, if yab is "many," if hab then it is "year," if ab, then a certain kind of fruit. The third word, if nal, means “corn,” or if it is a particle, then it is a type of suffix that indicates possession or attribute to what it is attached. This, therefore, is a notoriously difficult proper name/phrase to interpret (and some translators have believe that it is not even a name for Chichén Itzá). None of the suggested translations easily fit into the Maya logic and conventions of naming places.
5. Coggins (1992).
6. Anda Alanís (2007)
7. For summation of this re-dating proposal, see in particular Andrews et al. (2003).
8. A popular explanation is that the objective of the game was to pass a ball through one of the rings, however in other, smaller ball courts there is no ring, only a post.
9. Cirerol Sansores (1948, pp.94–96).
10. Voss and Kremer (2000)
11. Andrews IV (1960, pp.28–31).
12. Andrews IV (1970).
13. Usborne (2007).
14. Usborne (2007).
15. Breglia (2006, pp.45–46).
16. See Quetzil Castaneda (1996) In The Museum of Maya Culture (University of Minnesota Press) for a book length study of tourism at Chichen, including a chapter on the equinox ritual. For a 90 minute ethnographic documentary of new age spiritualism at the Equinox see Jeff Himpele and Castaneda (1997) (Documentary Educational Resources).
17. "Compendio Estadistico del Turismo en Mexico 2006," Secretaria de Turismo, Mexico City, D.F.
18. ”Chichen Itza podria duplicar visitants en 5 anos si es declarada maravilla,” EFE news service, June 29, 2007. Figure is attributed to Francisco Lopez Mena, director of Consejo de Promocion Turistica de Mexico (CPTM).
19. Usborne (2007)
20. Diario de Yucatán, "Fin a una exención para los mexicanos: Pagarán el día del equinoccio en la zona arqueológica"3 March 2006.

References

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Andrews, E. Wyllys, IV (1961). "Excavations at the Gruta De Balankanche, 1959 (Appendix)". Preliminary Report on the 1959-60 Field Season National Geographic Society — Tulane University Dzibilchaltun Program: with grants in aid from National Science Foundation and American Philosophical Society. Middle American Research Institute Miscellaneous Series No 11. New Orleans: Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. pp. pp.28–31. ISBN 0-939238-66-7. OCLC 5628735. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Andrews, E. Wyllys, IV (1970). Balancanche: Throne of the Tiger Priest. Middle American Research Institute Publication No 32. New Orleans: Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. ISBN 0-939238-36-5. OCLC 639140. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Anda Alanís, Guillermo de (2007). "Sacrifice and Ritual Body Mutilation in Postclassical Maya Society: Taphonomy of the Human Remains from Chichén Itzá's Cenote Sagrado". In Vera Tiesler and Andrea Cucina (eds.) (ed.). New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Michael Jochim (series ed.). New York: Springer. pp. pp.190–208. ISBN 978-0-387-48871-4. OCLC 81452956. ISSN 1568-2722. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Barrera Vásquez, Alfredo (1980). Diccionario maya Cordemex: maya-español, español-maya. with collaborations by Refugio Vermont Salas, David Dzul Góngora, and Domingo Dzul Poot. Mérida, Mexico: Ediciones Cordemex. OCLC 7550928. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Template:Es icon Template:Myn icon

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Castañeda, Quetzil E. (1996). In the Museum of Maya Culture: Touring Chichén Itzá. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-816-62672-3. OCLC 34191010. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Castañeda, Quetzil E. (2005). "On the Tourism Wars of Yucatán: Tíich', the Maya Presentation of Heritage" (Reprinted online as "Tourism “Wars” in the Yucatán", AN Commentaries). Anthropology News. 46 (5). Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association: pp.8–9. ISSN 1541-6151. OCLC 42453678. Retrieved 2007-11-22. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Charnay, Désiré (1886). "Reis naar Yucatán". De Aarde en haar Volken, 1886. Haarlem, Netherlands: Kruseman & Tjeenk Willink. OCLC 12339106. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Template:Nl icon

Charnay, Désiré (1887). Ancient Cities of the New World: Being Voyages and Explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857-1882. J. Gonino and Helen S. Conant (trans.). New York: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 2364125. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Cirerol Sansores, Manuel (1948). "Chi Cheen Itsa": Archaeological Paradise of America. Mérida, Mexico: Talleres Graficos del Sudeste. OCLC 18029834. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Coe, Michael D. (1987). The Maya (4th edition (revised) ed.). London; New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27455-X. OCLC 15895415. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Coggins, Clemency Chase (1992). Artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichén Itzá, Yucatán: Textiles, Basketry, Stone, Bone, Shell, Ceramics, Wood, Copal, Rubber, Other Organic Materials, and Mammalian Remains. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University; distributed by Harvard University Press. ISBN 0873656946. OCLC 26913402. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Colas, Pierre R. (2006). "A Game of Life and Death — The Maya Ball Game". In Nikolai Grube (ed.) (ed.). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.). Cologne, Germany: Könemann Press. pp. pp.186–191. ISBN 978-3-8331-1957-6. OCLC 71165439. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 5 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Cucina, Andrea (2007). "New perspectives on human sacrifice and postsacrifical body treatments in ancient Maya society: Introduction". In Vera Tiesler and Andrea Cucina (eds.) (ed.). New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Michael Jochim (series ed.). New York: Springer. pp. pp.1–13. ISBN 978-0-387-48871-4. OCLC 81452956. ISSN 1568-2722. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 5 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Demarest, Arthur (2004). Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization. Case Studies in Early Societies, No. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-59224-0. OCLC 51438896. {{cite book}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Himpele, Jeffrey D. and Quetzil E. Castañeda (Filmmakers and Producers). Incidents of Travel in Chichén Itzá: A Visual Ethnography (Documentary (VHS and DVD)). Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources. OCLC 38165182. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |people= at position 1 (help)

Jacobs, James Q. (1999). "Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy: A Review of Contemporary Understandings of Prehispanic Astronomic Knowledge". Mesoamerican Web Ring. jqjacobs.net. Retrieved 2007-11-23. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Masson, Marilyn (2006). "The Dynamics of Maturing Statehood in Postclassic Maya Civilization". In Nikolai Grube (ed.) (ed.). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.). Cologne, Germany: Könemann Press. pp. pp.340–353. ISBN 978-3-8331-1957-6. OCLC 71165439. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Pérez de Lara, Jorge (n.d.). "A Tour of Chichen Itza with a Brief History of the Site and its Archaeology". Mesoweb. Retrieved 2007-11-23. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: year (link)

Perry, Richard D. (ed.) (2001). Exploring Yucatan: A Traveler's Anthology. Santa Barbara, CA: Espadaña Press. ISBN 0-9620811-4-0. OCLC 48261466. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Schele, Linda (1990). A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya (Reprint ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-688-11204-8. OCLC 145324300. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 5 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Usborne, David (2007-11-07), "Mexican standoff: the battle of Chichen Itza", The Independent, Independent News & Media, retrieved 2007-11-09 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Voss, Alexander W. (2000). "K'ak'-u-pakal, Hun-pik-tok' and the Kokom: The Political Organization of Chichén Itzá" (PDF). In Pierre Robert Colas (ed.) (ed.). The Sacred and the Profane: Architecture and Identity in the Maya Lowlands (proceedings of the 3rd European Maya Conference). 3rd European Maya Conference, University of Hamburg, November 1998. Markt Schwaben, Germany: A. Saurwein. ISBN 3-931-41904-5 OCLC 47871840. {{cite conference}}: |editor= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |author= at position 1 (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |coauthors= at position 5 (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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Further reading

• Chichen Itza was popularized by American John Lloyd Stephens in Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, (two volumes, 1843)
• Holmes, Archæological Studies in Ancient Cities of Mexico, (Chicago, 1895)
• Spinden, Maya Art, (Cambridge, 1912)
• Coggins & Shane, "Cenote Of Sacrifice", (U. of Texas, 1984) very scarce.

External links

• Chichen Itza on Mesoweb.com
• Chichen Itza photos by Genry Joil
• Chichen Itza archaeologists
• UNESCO page about Chichen Itza World Heritage site
• American Egypt, contains information and articles relating to Chichen Itza
• Ancient Observatories page on Chichen Itza
• Chichen Itza Photographs, by Photographer Joe Kleon

20°40′58.44″N 88°34′7.14″W / 20.6829000°N 88.5686500°W / 20.6829000; -88.5686500

• Chichen Itza
• World Heritage Sites in Mexico
• Maya sites in Yucatán
• Archaeoastronomy