Chichén Itzá is one of the most important ruins on Mexico's Yucatán
Peninsula. It is located about 120 kilometers east of Mérida in the
state of Yucatán. Its ruins date from the late Maya period. Covering
1547 hectares, Chichén Itzá is one of the most extensive sites in the
Yucatán. The center is occupied by numerous monumental representative
buildings with a religious and political background, from which a large,
largely preserved step pyramid protrudes. Ruins of upper-class houses
are in the immediate vicinity.
Between the 8th and 11th
centuries, this city must have played a nationally significant role.
However, it has not yet been clarified what exactly this looked like.
What is unique is how different architectural styles coexist in Chichén
Itzá. In addition to buildings in a modified Puuc style, there are
designs that show Toltec features. In the past, this was often
attributed to a direct influence of emigrants from central Mexico or
conquerors from Tula. Today one tends to start from diffusionist models
and assumes that different stylistic forms are largely simultane- ous in
the monumental buildings.
The development of tourism in the
Yucatán has made Chichén Itzá the archaeological site that attracts the
most visitors in Mexico after Teotihuacán. Chichén Itzá was declared a
World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. On March 30, 2015, the memorial
was included in the International Register of Cultural Property under
Special Protection of the Hague Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
The city's name comes from the Yucatec Maya and means "at the edge of
the well of the Itzá". It is composed of the three words chi’ (“mouth,
rim, bank”), ch’e’en (“well” or “cave with water”) and itzá (the
people’s own designation).
The "fountain" in the name of the city
meant the water-bearing doline (cenote), which is now known as Cenote
Sagrado. Chichén Itzá is situated on a very uneven karst terrain with
generally but little elevation change, dotted with many collapse
sinkholes (known locally as rejolladas); these usually do not reach the
groundwater horizon, but offer favorable conditions for planting for
microclimatic reasons. One water-bearing doline is located north (Cenote
Sagrado) and south (Cenote Xtoloc, next to the small temple of the same
name) of the center. It is certainly no coincidence that the ceremonial
center lies exactly between these two cenotes.
Another name given
to the city before the arrival of the Itzá is mentioned in Chumayel's
Chilam-Balam. How this name - Uuc Yabnal - is to be understood has not
yet been satisfactorily clarified.
In 1533, almost ten years before the Spanish had completed their
conquest of the Yucatán, Francisco de Montejo the Younger established a
small settlement in the ruins of Chichén Itzá called Ciudad Real. So
far, no archaeological traces have been found of the simple dwellings
built at that time. The settlement was besieged by the Maya and could
not be held. Diego de Landa (who was not there himself at the time)
reports that the pressure was so great that the Spaniards could only
withdraw secretly at night. Landa, who came to the Yucatán in 1549,
gives a fairly detailed description of some of the buildings in the
center of Chichén Itzá - namely the castillo and the two small platforms
- as well as the wide road to the sacred cenote and objects he found
there. A brief note of his visit to the ruins on July 26, 1588 was left
by Antonio de Ciudad Real.
Early modern descriptions and research
Among the earliest modern visitors was Baron Emanuel von Friedrichsthal,
in 1840, then first secretary of the Austrian legatee in Mexico. He also
took up daguerreotypes, but was unable to publish his report. In 1841,
John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood stayed at Chichén Itzá for
a long time, preparing detailed descriptions and drawings. Stephens'
accounts brought the Central American ruins, including Chichén Itzá, to
the attention of those interested in North America and Europe. They
encouraged, among others, the French Désiré Charnay to undertake
research trips. He visited Chichén Itzá in 1860 and took numerous
photographs there.
The New York amateur archaeologist Augustus Le Plongeon undertook the
first excavations in 1875. However, the historical depictions that he
extensively presented in his works belong to the realm of the
imagination. He was followed in quick succession by Teoberto Maler, who
left only sparse records in addition to photographs, and the Englishman
Alfred Percival Maudslay, who devoted six months to the ruined city. The
American diplomat Edward Thompson bought the hacienda on whose grounds
Chichén Itzá is located in 1894 and conducted research there until the
1920s. Among other things, he dredged from 1904 the deposits in the
sacred cenote, where he also undertook diving expeditions. He was
accused of illegally taking numerous valuable objects out of the
country, but these charges were later dropped as unfounded.
Beginning in 1924, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, under the
direction of Sylvanus Griswold Morley, carried out excavations and
reconstructions in cooperation with Mexican government agencies.
Carnegie Institution archaeologists (including Eric Thompson) worked on
ruins at the great platform (particularly the Temple of the Warriors),
at the Caracol, the Monjas and the Mercado, and at the Temple of the
Three Doorbeams far to the south. Restoration work has been carried out
by archaeologists from the Mexico Antiquities Authority on the Castillo,
the Great Ball Court, the Tzompantli, the Platform of the Eagles and
Jaguars, and the Platform of Venus. The extensive excavations of the
Carnegie Institution in Chichén Itzá laid the foundation for the
chronology of the entire northern Yucatán based on the pottery found.
Carnegie Institution scholars also developed the view that Chichén Itzá
was where the cultures of native Mayans and immigrant Toltecs met, as
evidenced by different architectural styles. The Carnegie Institution
and later the Mexican INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e
Historia) also carried out a precise mapping of Chichén Itzá, which
covers many times the area accessible to tourists today.
Recent
excavations and restorations by the INAH since the 1980s (mostly under
the direction of the German Peter J. Schmidt) have focused on follow-up
investigations and consolidations in the center of Chichén Itzá
(completion of the Castillo, the Temple of the Great Sacrificial Table,
the eastern part of the Thousand complex of columns, Osarios) and new
excavations in the south (entire Grupo de la Fecha). In 2009, new
excavations began around the castillo under Rafael Cobos.
The history of ownership of Chichén Itzá is unusual and has had a not insignificant impact on exploration and conservation: after Edward Thompson's death in 1935, his heirs sold the hacienda to the influential Yucatec Barbachano family since the 19th century, who now run two hotels there . Although the Chichén Itzá site has been officially declared an archaeological site and is effectively federal territory (zona federal), this has had no consequences under private law. In March 2010, the last owner, Hans Jürgen Thies Barbachano, sold a portion of the 80-hectare Chichén Itzá site, which includes the most important buildings of the old city, to the Yucatán government for 220 million pesos (about 13 million euros ). On the site of the old town there are not only several hotels, but also settlements of the local population.
There are three different types of information sources for the
history of Chichén Itzá, each of which sheds light on different topics:
the archaeological findings from excavations and recording of surface
finds as well as measurements
The inscriptions in the hieroglyphic
writing of the Maya
The Written Accounts of the Aftermath of the
Spanish Conquest
It is not uncommon for information from the
three types of sources to be inconsistent, and to a significant degree
even contradictory, because they arose in different situations.
Archaeological evidence is the unintended result of human life and
therefore not consciously altered or focused. However, the uneven
chances that traces from different areas of life are reflected in
material finds and the preservation conditions in the soil act as a
filter through which only parts of the past reality of life are
recognizable. Contemporary written monuments, on the other hand, are
subject to a different thematic selection: here it was the local rulers
who had themselves and their dynasties and their deeds carved in stone
for their own glorification. The third group of sources, written
centuries after the events recounted, are shaped by the perspective of
their authors and the intentions behind the writing. Here the texts of
Spanish clerics and those of Indian village scribes differ
fundamentally. In addition, the authors' different access to the
information and the unavoidable distortions to which they were already
subjected play a decisive role.
Archaeological Sources
According to the types of pottery found, Chichén Itzá has a settlement
history of almost two thousand years. However, buildings can only be
proven for the late classical period around 750 AD, which corresponds to
the cultural development in the Puuc style further to the southwest.
This was followed by different building forms in the End Classic that
were associated with Toltec influence or even the presence of emigrants
or conquerors from Tula until the 1970s. During this time, the buildings
on the Great Terrace with the ball court, the Castillo, the Warrior
Temple and the thousand-column complex up to the so-called Mercado were
built, but also in other parts of the city, which has meanwhile grown
enormously. Today it is assumed that the monumental buildings belonging
to the “Toltec” and a modified Puuc style were largely contemporaneous.
How the sometimes striking stylistic similarities between Tula and
Chichén Itzá can be explained historically has not yet been resolved.
Chichén Itzá directly ruled over a smaller area, as shown by the
inscriptions in nearby sites. It is believed that Isla Cerritos served
as the port for the commercial activities discernible in materials from
the north and central Mexican highlands, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and
western Panamá. In the Postclassic, the city was slowly depopulated and
visited only by pilgrims who brought offerings, as is also documented in
many other places.
Hieroglyphic inscriptions with dates
The
following summary of dates in hieroglyphic inscriptions from Chichén
Itzá and the nearby sites Halakal and Yula is based on a list provided
by Nikolai Grube and has been updated. It shows that hieroglyphic
inscriptions (with two exceptions) only exist for the very short period
of around 60 years.
All Long Count dates in square brackets are
calculated. The notation of the dates on the monuments is either
exclusively as a calendar round or exclusively or additionally in the
notation "tun [number] in the k'atun ending with the day [number] ajaw".
The k'atun 1 ajaw is expressed in the Long Count as 10.2.0.0.0.
Chilam Balam Books
Of the 17th- and 18th-century Yucatán
village books known collectively as the Chilam Balam books, three
(named after the places where they were found, Tizimín and Chumayel,
and the Codex Pérez) contain chronicle-like listings of years in the
form of k'atun [number] ajaw. These annual figures include
keyword-like, often unclear statements about events. Since the 13
possible names of the k’atun, which lasted almost 20 years, are
repeated after around 256.27 years, no clear statements of time
within a longer period of time are possible. Therefore, when
determining European dates, other aspects must also be taken into
account, which change with the progress of research. The
contradictions between the chronological order in the various
sections of the Chilam Balam texts lead to further problems of
interpretation. The Chilam Balam books also still contain prophecies
in which events are linked back to k'atun dates. These events are
partly reflections of historical events and can possibly be used to
elucidate them.
Spanish Writings of the 16th Century
The
most important source is the report of the Franciscan and later
bishop Diego de Landa (only preserved in a later, probably heavily
edited copy). Information is also provided by the 50 Relaciones
[geográficas] de Yucatán, reports from 1577 to 1581 based on an
official questionnaire on all aspects of the country, written by
local administrators using indigenous informants. For parts of the
Yucatán, many of the reports are based on information from the Mayan
chronicler Gaspar Antonio Chi and are therefore not to be considered
independent of one another. Works by other mostly Spanish authors
contain only a few details.
The reconstructed history differs fundamentally depending on the
source used. While the hieroglyphic texts offer the self-representation
of a small section of a ruling dynasty, the colonial and later written
texts consist of largely unconnected, brief individual reports that can
only be combined to form questionable representations. Overall, most of
the history of Chichén Itzá remains (and probably will remain) unknown.
History according to hieroglyphic inscriptions
The inscriptions
only cover a relatively short period in the history of Chichén Itzá,
essentially a ruling family, particularly its important exponents.
According to the inscriptions, Ek Balam, which was clearly oriented
towards the core area of the Classic Maya culture far to the south,
initially held the predominance in the northern Yucatán. Chichén Itzá
also appears to have been subordinate to Ek Balam at first. The series
of inscriptions at Chichén Itzá reliably dated with Mayan dates begins
with a long horizontal band in the front room of the Red House (Casa
Colorada). In this inscription, its authors differ significantly from
the Ek Balam inscriptions by using a local language form that later
appears as Yucatec Maya.
The inscription first tells of a
ceremony in the year 869 performed by K'ak'upakal K'awiil ("Fire is the
shield of K'awiil"), the prominent figure in the Chichén Itzá
inscriptions. Less than a year later, fire ceremonies were held
involving K'ak'upakal and K'inich Jun Pik To'ok', rulers of Ek Balam,
and an apparently equal member of the Kokom family, known from the
colonial era. K'ak'upakal is last mentioned in an inscription from 890.
The name of his brother, the second major figure at Chichén Itzá, is
tentatively read as K'inil Kopol. Like his brother, he bears a ruler's
title that is not otherwise found, but is only mentioned in inscriptions
between 878 and 881. Her mother was Mrs. K'ayam, while the father
remains unclear with an unsatisfactorily read name, which may correspond
to an emphasis on maternal descent at Chichén Itzá.
K'ak'upakal
and K'inich Jun Pik To'ok' also appear at a monument in nearby Halakal,
presumably with an as yet unidentified local ruler. Also in neighboring
Yula, K'ak'upakal appears, along with the local ruler To'k' Yaas Ajaw
K'uhul Um and others in connection with fire ceremonies. In the Chichén
Itzá building now known as Akab Dzib, Yahawal Cho' K'ak', a member of
the Kokom family, claims to be its owner. But other inscriptions from
unidentified buildings also relate them to the Kokom.
The dates
given in the inscriptions on buildings indicate three construction
periods. The oldest, which predates the rise of K'ak'upakal, includes
the Akab Dzib and Casa Colorada buildings, the next includes the
construction of the Monjas complex. The latter includes the buildings of
the Grupo de la Fecha and the Temples of the Three and Four Lintels, all
commissioned by K'inil Kopol. This also ends the dense sequence of dated
inscriptions. For the later period in which the buildings designated as
Toltec were built, there are no inscriptions that could provide
information about the exact time of construction and the people
involved. One can conclude that the ability to write inscriptions either
no longer existed or was no longer valued.
Numerous names
previously considered members of a relatively egalitarian system of rule
under the Mayan designation multepal are now recognized as names of
gods, rendering the assumed peculiar political structure irrelevant. The
initial misunderstanding stems from the fact that gods and rulers,
possibly only after their death, appear in the same context, primarily
as owners of buildings.
Sylvanus Griswold Morley developed a chronological scheme based on a
literal adoption of the statements of (certain) Chilam Balam texts. Due
to the calendar correlation used, the dates are sometimes around 256
years too late.
948 The Itzá leave Chakán Putum for the northern
Yucatán
987 Itzá resettlement of Chichén Itza, supremacy of Chichén
Itza in northern Yucatán
1224 Conquest of Chichén Itza by Hunac Ceel,
the Itzá are expelled, dominance of the Cocom from Ich Paa over the
Yucatán
1441 Ah Xupan Xiu leads the uprising that destroys Ich Paa,
killing almost all Cocom members
In the 1950s, Alfred M. Tozzer
in particular tried to interpret the statements of the sources more
reliably against the background of the archaeological results available
at the time. Although this reconstruction is viewed critically today, it
can be found in many general representations.
Settlement (the
Chilam Balam texts speak of the "discovery") is put at 692 (Chilam Balam
of Tizimin), 711 or 731 (two sections in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel),
according to the Codex Pérez between 475 and 514, although Tozzer does
not consider any of these dates to be historical. Colonial sources also
speak of a Great Descent (from the East) and a Small Descent (from the
West), with size referring to the number of people. For the Great
Comedown there is (in the Chumayel) even a long list of places starting
with Port Polé on the east coast.
Several texts refer to an
obscure happening around a person named Hunac Ceel, which can be dated
to 1194. According to the Codex Pérez, the chief of Chichén Itzá, Chac
Xib Chac, was expelled because of the underhandedness of Huac Ceel,
ruler of Mayapan. He was driven out by several people with Náhuatl-esque
names. This expulsion was in connection with a banquet given by Ulil,
the lord of Izamal. The strangers were later named Cupul, and they were
encountered by Francisco de Montejo during the Spanish conquest at
Chichén Itza. The story is told somewhat differently in the Tizimin
text: Chac Xib Chac was also invited to the wedding feast of Ah Ulil of
Izamal, as was Hunac Ceel. His deviousness consisted in giving the Chac
Xib Chac a love spell to sniff, whereupon he coveted the bride of Ah
Ulil. War broke out and Chac Xib Chac was expelled from Chichén Itzá.
Sometime, according to Landa, between 1224 and 1444, a Kukulcán
arrived with the Itzá at Chichén Itzá, and later founded Mayapan.
Hunac Ceel was later thrown into the Sacred Cenote of Chichén Itzá,
but he survived and came back with the prophecies and became Supreme
Chief. Ruler was Ah Mex Cuc. Chichén Itzá came to an end in 1461, and
some of its residents moved to the far south island town of Tayasal on
Lake Petén, where they retained their independence until March 13, 1697.
A later view sees the Itzá as an immigrant group who had come from a
more Mexican-influenced area. They reached the Yucatán in the
aforementioned Small Coming Down from the West. Among other things, it
is said of them that they had only a broken command of the Mayan
language. Their leader appears to be Kukulcán (whom earlier research
linked to the Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl of the same name in Náhuatl from
Tula), who is said to have left his country for the Gulf of Mexico. This
is set in the year 987. However, historical analysis of the historical
records cannot clarify what role (if any) played by Toltec immigrants,
warriors, or religious leaders at Chichén Itzá.