Seven
Wonders of the World:
Chichen Itza
Chichen
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.
The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site's
stewardship is maintained by Mexico's National Institute of
Anthropology and History.
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.
History
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 (also
variously known as the Sacred Well or Well of
Sacrifice), is the more famous. According to post-Conquest
sources, pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings
into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god
Chaac.
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.
Site
Description
The site
contains many fine stone buildings in various states of
preservation, and many have been restored. The buildings
are connected by a dense network of formerly paved roads, called
sacbeob. Archaeologists have found almost 100 sacbeob
criss-crossing the site, and extending in all directions from the
city.
The buildings of Chichén Itza are grouped in a series of
architectonic sets, and each set was at one time separated
from the other by a series of low walls. The three best
known of these complexes are the Great North Platform, which
includes the monuments of El Castillo, Temple of Warriors and the
Great Ball Court; The Ossario Group, which includes the pyramid of
the same name as well as the Temple of Xtoloc; and the Central
Group, which includes the Caracol, Las Monjas, and Akab
Dzib.
Tourism
Tourism has been
a factor at Chichen Itza for more than a century. 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.
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.
Reference/Image Credits:Wikipedia
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