PostClassic Maya

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Post-Classic Maya

• Chichen Itza
• Uxmal
• Tulum

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http//www.maps-of-mexico.com/Uxmal_mexico_gallery
.shtml
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Chichen Itza

• The name Chichen Itza means "well of the Itzas."
• Late in its history, the site was occupied by the
  Itza family, Mayas who resisted the Spanish until
  the 17th century by withdrawing to a fortress at
  Lake Peten.
• In the Middle Preclassic period (800 B.C. - 300
  B.C.) some villages grew into small ceremonial
  centers.
• By the Late Classic period (600 - 900 A.D.) one
  of these provincial centers, later called Chichen
  Itza, contained a number of large structures
  built in the Puuc style of the South, exemplified
  by the Nunnery and the Palace of the Governors at
  Uxmal, some 100 miles southeast of Chichen Itza.

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http//www.cancun.com/Mayan_Ruins/Chichen_Itza/Map
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Maya historical tradition

• States that in 987 A.D., a leader called Kukulkan
  (in Maya, "feathered serpent," in the Toltec
  language, "Quetzalcoatl") arrived from the sea to
  the west and conquered the land, probably with
  the aid of some of the indigenous people.
• Kukulkan was almost certainly the Quetzalcoatl
  who had dominated the Toltec capital at Tula to
  the west and whose faction had been exiled from
  Tula in 987 A.D.

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Chichen Itza Toltec Influence

• The Toltec invaders, with the aid, forced or
  willing, of the Chichen Itza Mayas, proceeded to
  build a new capital close to the site of the
  older Maya center.
• They built new buildings in the Toltec style,
  altered older Maya structures to suit their own
  needs, and left some of the older buildings
  untouched.
• They may have built a wall around their new
  plaza, which is bounded by the Temple of the
  Warriors at one end and the Great Ball Court at
  the other.
• The result of the building program was a lively,
  exciting melding of styles and forms, for many of
  the innovations of Tula were brought to the
  Yucatan and refined by Maya craftsmen.

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http//maya.csuhayward.edu/archaeoplanet/ParisGra/
ChichenMap.htm
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Later Chichen Itza

• The Toltecs ruled at Chichen Itza for 200 years
  and then abandoned the site, probably overthrown
  by the Mayas.
• Although the building program ended, people
  continued to inhabit the site to this time there
  is recent evidence that some minor Maya religious
  rituals, such as the burning of incense, are
  still practiced in the older sections of Chichen.

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Castillo
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Earlier entrance under Castillo
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Jaguar Temple
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Jaguar Throne
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Eagle Platform
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Temple of the Warriors
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Venus Platform
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Cenote Excavations

• In the late 19th century, the American Edward
  Thompson bought a hacienda located on the site of
  Chichen Itza. An amateur archaeologist, he
  investigated many of the structures, of which
  only a small percentage have been excavated as of
  the present time.
• Thompson's main interest, like many of the
  investigators who succeeded him, was in the
  Sacred Cenote. This is a limestone sink, not
  uncommon in the Yucatan, which serves as the only
  steady natural source of water in this region of
  low rainfall.
• During the Toltec era, probably before it, and
  certainly long after, sacrifices of various kinds
  were thrown into the cenote.
• These included human beings, as well as objects
  made of gold, jade, copal, rubber, and copper.
• Although the Spanish believed (or hoped) the
  human sacrifices were beautiful virgins, there is
  no skeletal evidence for this belief. Skeletons
  of children, old men and mature women have been
  dredged from the Cenote.

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Cenote
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Structure on side of Cenote
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Objects found in Cenote (Jade and Shell)
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Gold objects in Cenote
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The Caracol
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Ruins of a High Priests House
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Necklace found in High Priest house excavations
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Ballcourt
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Mural Depicting Battle
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Chacmool Figure
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The Nunnery
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Skull Rack
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Close-up of Skull Rack
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Uxmal

• Uxmal was the greatest metropolitan and religious
  center in the Puuc hills of Yucatan during the
  late Classical period, flourishing between the
  7th and 10th centuries A.D.
• Uxmal translates as 'thrice built' and, whatever
  the actual number, the numerous building phases
  are reflected in a variety of architectural
  styles.
• The city was abandoned in the 10th century after
  apparently coming under Toltec influence.
• The currently used names for many of the
  structures were coined by the conquering Spanish
  and are neither indigenous nor do they indicate
  the actual functions of the buildings. An example
  is the Nunnery so named for its similarity to the
  convents of the Spaniards. This structure was
  actually used as a school for the training of
  healers, astronomers, mathematicians, shamans and
  priests.

http//www.sacredsites.com/americas/mexico/uxmal.h
tml
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The Pyramid of the Magician

• The Pyramid of the Magician, at 100 feet the
  tallest structure in Uxmal, is more accurately
  named. According to an ancient legend, of various
  different tellings, a magician-god named Itzamna
  was single handedly supposed to have constructed
  the pyramid in one night.
• From archaeological excavation however, we know
  that the pyramid was constructed in five
  superimposed phases.
• The legendary association of the pyramid with a
  magician may be understood as an indication that
  the structure, and indeed the entire sacred part
  of the Uxmal complex, had ancient and ongoing use
  as a mystery school and ceremonial center.
• It is also interesting to note that the entire
  city is aligned with reference to the position of
  the planets then known, with Venus predominating,
  and that the pyramid of the magician is oriented
  so that its stairway on the west faces the
  setting sun at the time of summer solstice.

http//www.sacredsites.com/americas/mexico/uxmal.h
tml
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The Pyramid of the Magician
http//www.sacredsites.com/americas/mexico/uxmal.h
tml
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Uxmal Ballcourt
http//www.shunya.net/Pictures/Mexico/Uxmal.htm
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Nunnery Quadrangle
http//www.shunya.net/Pictures/Mexico/Uxmal.htm
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Hilltop Structure
http//www.shunya.net/Pictures/Mexico/Uxmal.htm
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View with Tempel of Magician in background
http//www.shunya.net/Pictures/Mexico/Uxmal.htm
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Great Pyramid
http//www.newodysseyart.co.uk/ancient_mexico_uxma
l.html
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Tulum

• El Castillo (The Castle) is the largest of the
  buildings, and it overlooks the coast on the
  cliff-edge.
• Templo del Dios Descendente (Temple of the
  Descending God) depicts a diving figure, (looks
  like a bee) and is the same figure you can see
  depicted at other Mayan sites, including Coba.
• Templo de los Frescos - Temple of Frescoes dates
  back to the mid 1400's is a two-storey building
  with colorful murals on the inner wall.   
• It is thought to have been one of the last
  structures built by the Maya before the arrival
  of Hernan Cortez.

http//www.mexperience.com/guide/archaeology/tulum
.htmAbout
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http//www.cancun.com/Mayan_Ruins/Tulum/Map/
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View looking east
http//www.nativeweb.org/pages/pyramids/tulum.html
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El Castillo
http//www.dallas.net/lalo/tulum3.html
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Temple of the Descending God
http//www.nativeweb.org/pages/pyramids/tulum.html
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Temple of the Frescoes
http//www.athenapub.com/tulum1.htm
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The Watchtower
http//www.nativeweb.org/pages/pyramids/tulum.html