Chichen Itza means "At the mouth of the well Itza" ia a large pre-Columbian archeological site built by Maya Civilization located in the northern center of the Yuctan Peninsula in the Yuctan state,which is present day Mexico.This site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles,from which is called "Mexicanized" and reminiscent of styles seen in Mexico to the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands.
The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property,and the site's stewardship is maintained by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropologyand History(INAH).The land under the monuments had been privately-owned until March 29,2010,When it was purchased by the state of Yuctan.
Name and Pronunciation
The Maya name "Chich'en Itza" means At the mouth of the well of Itza,Itza is a name of ethnic-lineage group that gained political and economic dominance of the northern peninsula.Itza is a word derived from maya which means "Magicians of Water".
History
Norther Yucatan is a water less place and the river in the interiors all ran underground.There are two large natural sink holes called as Cenotes that could have provided plentiful of water around Chichen,making it attractive for settlement.Of the two cenotes,the "Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote(also known as well of sacrifice),is the most famous.According to the sources,maya people 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 articrafts of gold,jade,pottery and incense and 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 which was enough proof to say that the place was used to sacrifice human beings.
Economy
Chichen Itza was a major economic power in the northern Maya lowlands during its last stages.Participating in the water-borne circum-peninsular trade rate through its port site of Isla Cerritos,Chichen Itza was able to obtain locally unavailable resources from distant areas such as central Mexico(obsidian (kind of a glass found after volcanic eruptions)) and southern Central America(Gold).
Great North Platfrom
Site description
this site also consists of a few famous places they areGreat North Platfrom
- El Castillo
- Great Ball Court
- Tzompantli
- Platform of the Eagles and the Jaguars
- Platform of Venus
- Sacbe Number One
- Cenote Sagrado
- Temple of Tables
- Temple of Warriors
- Group of Thousand Columns
- Steam Bath
- El Mercado
- Ossario
- Temple of Xtoloc
- House of the Metates and House of the Mestizas
- Casa Colorada
- The House of the Deer
- Las Monjas
- El Caracol
- Akab Dzib
- Other Structures
