Athena Review Image Archive ™
Chichén Itzá: Plan of the Postclassic zone
Chichén Itzá: Plan of the northern, Postclassic zone (Athena Review Image Archive)
The
archaeological zone at Chichén Itzá is divided into two main areas,
with the Late Classic site located south of the highway to Merida, and
the Early Postclassic section to the north.
The Postclassic zone shown in this plan (Rupert 1953)
represents the ceremonial and market center rebuilt by Toltecs who came
down from the Valley of Mexico and conquered Yucatán shortly before AD
1000. This is centered around the Castillo, a massive four-sided
pyramid whose nine terraces reach 24 m in elevation Beneath the
Castillo is a smaller, Late Classic pyramid 16.6 m high. North of the
Castillo, a sacbe or path leads to the Cenote of Sacrifice.
The
Ballcourt, 146 by 37 m, is the largest in Mesoamerica with walls 8 m
high, covered with reliefs of ballplayers representing Lords of
the Underworld. Small temples are at both ends of the Ballcourt. At its
southeast end is the rectangular Temple of the Jaguars, built in two
phases, the later with a procession of jaguars carved on its facade
like those on the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (Pyramid B) at Tula. Just east
of the Ballcourt is platform of the Tzompantli (“rack of trophy
skulls”) where sacrifices were made to the fire god with displays of
skulls of sacrificed victims. The small Platform of the Eagles is
decorated with carved serpent heads on the stairwells, and other
typical Toltec motifs of jaguars and eagles devouring human hearts.
East
of the Grand Plaza is the imposing Temple of the Warriors, similar in
design to the Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Tula. Constructed in four tiers
39.5 m across, the sides are decorated with relief carvings of
ballplayers, and jaguars and eagles holding human hearts. The pyramid
was approached through a large colonnaded building once covered with a
beam and mortar roof. Excavations within the Temple of the Warriors
found an earlier structure called the Temple of Chacmool, similar in
plan to the later temple on the Castillo. To the south of the Temple of
the Warriors is the 4.5 acre Court of the Thousand Columns, adjoining
the market and a smaller ballcourt on the south.
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