Chichen Itza

A Millennium in the Making

The sacred site of Chichen Itza was once one of the greatest Mayan centres of the Yucatán peninsula, and bear the hallmarks of 1,000 years of human civilization. Its spectacular ruins – located on the northern centre of the Yucatán Peninsula, just a few hours drive from the popular Caribbean coast resort of Cancun – are one of Mexico’s most popular tourist attractions, the pyramid tower “El Castillo” in particular, which is one of the most iconic ancient structures in the world.

“At the Mouth of the Well of the Itza”

Chichen Itza’s settlement and ascendancy can be boiled down to one simple factor: water. The Yucatán peninsula is arid and dry; at this spot are two large natural sink holes called 'cenotes' that would have provided plentiful supplies of fresh H2O year round. The name Chichen Itza actually translates as “at the mouth of the well of the Itza”.

514 AD is the rough year of Chichen Itza’s foundation. It was in the late Early Classic period (around 600 AD) that the site began to rise to prominence, although it wasn’t until the end of the Late Classic (around 900 AD) period that it became a major regional capital. By then it was a centralising and dominant force over life in the northern Mayan lowlands in every way: political, sociocultural, economic, and ideological.

Around the 10th century, we know that a major shift in influence at the site occurred. How it occurred isn’t entirely clear – it may have been an invasion, or a more gradual process. But certainly, a new foreign power assumed control, probably Maya speakers who, if they weren’t under their direct control, were certainly influenced by the Toltec of central Mexico.

Key Sights

Because it spanned two great periods of Maya civilization, Chichen Itza shows two different architectural styles – Classic and Post-Classic.

The Classic Mayan structures are massive, with heavy, decorative sculpture and cramped interiors, and can generally be seen to the south of the Main Plaza. They include the Akab Dzib ('The House of the Dark Writing'), the Chichanchob ('The Red House'), the Iglesia ('The Church', which is decorated with elaborate masks of the rain god Chaac), the Casa de las Monjas ('The Nunnery' – nicknamed so by the Spanish, even though it was actually a governmental palace) and the observatory El Caracol ('The Snail' – its doors and windows are aligned to astronomical events, specifically around the path of Venus as it traverses the heavens).

The Post-Classic Toltec structures, built to the north of the older structures, have plainer, more austere lines, with sculptures based on the Mexican feathered-serpent motif and columns. They include the most iconic of the site’s structures, the Kukulcan Pyramid – 'El Castillo' by its Spanish nickname (which translates as 'The Castle'). The Kukulcan Pyramid is the most dominant feature at Chichen Itza at 24 meters high. It has 91 steps on each side, 365 of them altogether if you count the top platform – one for each day of the year. Great sculptures of plumed serpents run down the sides of the northern staircase, and are set off by shadows from the corner tiers on the spring and autumn equinoxes.

Other impressive structures include the Great Ball Court – the largest court of its type in Mesoamerica at 166 by 68 meters, once the venue for a complex ball game – and the Temple of Warriors, a large stepped pyramid fronted and flanked by rows of carved columns depicting fierce Mayan warriors.

Abandonment

Chichen Itza society is thought to have collapsed between the late 12th and mid 13th centuries, when elite activities ceased and the site rapidly depopulated. Nobody can be sure why – it may have been because of internal fighting, the threat of an external invader, the result of overpopulation, disease and starvation, or a combination of all of these things.

It does not appear to have been completely abandoned, however. According to both Spanish and Mayan post-Conquest sources, the Cenote Sagrado – the most impressive of Chichen Itza’s sinkholes – remained a place of pilgrimage where Mayans would conduct ritual sacrifices during times of drought.

When the Spanish made their first effort to conquer the Yucatán peninsula in late 1532, they made Chichen Itza their capital in the region, but were later surrounded and besieged there by hostile Mayans and eventually forced to flee under cover of darkness. The Spanish returned later in the century however, and by 1588 had turned the site into a working cattle ranch.

Chichen Itza Today

Long overgrown with jungle even by the time of Spanish arrival in the 16th century, Chichen Itza’s secrets only began to be revealed when excavation commenced in the 19th century. Since then, the site has become one of Mexico’s prime archaeological zones, and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988.

Tourism is big business at Chichen Itza today – it’s the second most popular of Mexico’s archaeological sites (after Teotihuacan). If you intend to visit, make it an overnight stay so that you can view the ruins late in the evening and then again early the next morning to avoid the crowds. Bear in mind though that it’s sadly no longer possible to climb to the top of 'El Castillo'. The steep steps have been slowly eroded by the tens of thousands of feet that scaled them every year. In fact they have become something of a safety hazard, with many tourists rushing to the top only to turn round and be petrified by the dizzyingly acute drop to the ground below.

Those interested in the macabre side of the site’s history should check out the Cenote Sagrado, Chichen Itza’s main well, where the cult ritual of human sacrifice to the rain god was proven after dredging in 1904 by American archaeologist Edward Herbert Thompson. He discovered various skeletons and sacrificial objects on the well’s floor. It's a gruesome irony that the very thing which brought life to Chichen Itza also bears the legacy of a centuries old ritual of death.

Photo of  'El Castillo' (top) by Aleksu; photo of carved skull wall (bottom) by Karen Morris. All rights reserved.

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About The Author

Malcolm Jack

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.

Last three pieces by this author: Seeing King Tut: Tutankhamun Virtual Experienes, Sites, Artefacts and Exhibitions Around the World, First Person Prosecuted in UK for Not Reporting Treasure, Colossal Head from Statue of King Tut's Granddad Found at Amenhotep III Funerary Temple Site

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