Virago's Log: July 2011

Background

In February Marj and I accompanied by my sister Janice toured Chichen Itza. Although I had been nearly as close to several other ancient Mesoamerican sites on Virago’s voyage, this was the only chance that Marj had an opportunity to visit one. She is more interested in the Olmecs, but Mayans hold some fascination for her. Bill Eddy, on the other hand, was on Virago at Isla Mujeres also, but professed no interest since he had seen Chichen Itza on the Discovery Channel. I had to admit that I had felt little enthusiasm for visiting the other ancient sites of Mexico and Central America, but a family outing to a nearby site was like a double word score.

So I set out to learn a little of the back story before our visit. Previously, we had read Jared Diamond’s books Guns Germs and Steel and Collapse. From him we learned that for all their sophistication and accomplishments the Mayans lacked several things that would have made their lives easier. First, they lacked pack animals. They had no horses, oxen, or even llamas and since they were over one hundred miles from the coast or any navigable river, all commerce and construction carriage had to be done by human porters. Second, they never learned to use wheeled vehicles: possibly because of the lack of animal power. Third, the primary food crops available were corn and beans. It is estimated that about 70% of their diet was corn. This made it difficult for peasant farmers to support much more than their own families. Fourth, the broad plain surrounding Chichen Itza rests upon karst (a porous limestone) that lets the heavy seasonal rains seep into the ground. This water is most available in deep sink holes called cenotes from which Chichen Itza gets its name meaning: “city of the water sorcerers”.

We also purchased a fold out guide published by http://www.editorialveras.com/index.html. This has a good description of the history and the buildings of Chichen Itza along with several maps. (I used this as a reference to the pictures we took while there). The short history is simple. The city was developed between 495 AD and 800 AD by Puuc peoples. The site of their buildings is to the South of the main center. Their architecture is shown in the Nunnery, Observatory, Church, and East Annex buildings. The city was abandoned for over one hundred years and was taken over by a Toltec people from the West called the Itza. They grew the city beginning about 950 AD. Structures like El Castillo, Ball Court, High Priest’s Grave, Temple of the Deer, and Platform of Eagles and Jaguars show their style. The city ruled the entire Yucatan Peninsula until it was mysteriously abandoned yet again around 1,200 AD. In Collapse, Jared Diamond devotes an entire chapter to the mysterious demise of such a great civilization. The city remained pretty much abandoned until rediscovered around 1840. Currently it is managed by the government of Mexico as both an important historical site and tourist Mecca.

Restoration

It should be kept in mind that many of the structures at Chichen Itza have been extensively restored. Since the Mayans did not use huge stones as did the Inca and Egyptians, archeologists have had to take some license in their reconstructions. Many times it is not possible for them to be sure to which structure a particular stone belongs. To some extent the Chichen Itza we see today is a re-imagining of the original. This theme is extensively developed by Quetzil E. Castaneda in his book In the Museum of Maya Culture: Touring Chichen Itza where he examines the Mexican government’s desire to make Chichen Itza a tourist Mecca. He also describes how an earlier Mexican president worked to develop a Mayan class consciousness to further his own political ideas. He points out that the city has been a tourist destination from its inception as a destination for religious pilgrims.

Puuc Chichen Itza

The old part of Chicen Itza is less grand than the newer part and the jaguar motif is not found. The Nunnery and the Church were named by the Spanish for some perceived resemblance to buildings with which they were familiar. Their original purposes are not clear. The observatory does exhibit features that line up with phases of Venus which was prominent in Mayan calendars.


The Nunnery	The Observatory

The Church	The East Annex Door to the Cosmos

Toltec Cichen Itza

Once the city became the Itza capital, the buildings got grander and the plumed serpent joined the jaguar in carvings. The one shown has the eyes and nose of a jaguar along with the forked tongue of the serpent and the wings and talons of the eagle—all in one carving!

The grandest of all the structures was named El Castillo (the castle) by the Spanish, but was probably the Pyramid of Kukulkan: the plumed serpent. It is over 90 feet tall and was built over an earlier pyramid. In the twenties and thirties the Mexican government excavated the temple at the top of the buried structure and created a tunnel up to it from the small door at the base of the pyramid. Currently, both the outside steps and the inside tunnel are closed to the public. The sides of the stairways are representations of serpents and on the two equinoxes the shadows upon the stairs resemble a snake slithering down the steps.

The most extensive structure at the site is the Ball Court. There are many such courts in Mesoamerica, but this is the largest (166 by 88 meters): over twice the area of a modern football field.

A ball game was played here involving teams of seven players who strove to sent a hard rubber ball through a stone ring high on the side wall of the field. While it is commonly believed that the players used only their bodies (but not their hands) in the game, there are carvings depicting players with “rackets?”. Perhaps the game was more akin to Lacrosse than modern soccer. There is some evidence that the winning captain was decapitated thus assuring him direct entrance to Mayan heaven.


Ball Court Hoop	Relief of Player with Club or Racket

Cenote

The whole existence of the Mayan civilization in the Yucatan and Chichen Itza in particular was the availability of water in giant sink holes called cenote. The became sacred sites as well as water sources. Pilgrims would through valuable items into them to propitiate the gods. Sometimes the valuables included human sacrifices. Over 30,000 objects have been recovered from the sacred cenote of Chichen Itza. There was even a temple that may have served as a viewing stand for the priests.

Lasting Influences

There are many hints Mayan architecture in Mexico today. One of the most common features is the Mayan arch. The Mayans never developed a true arch. Instead they used a corbel arch in which the top stone is flat rather being a wedge.