Chichén Itzá, Close view of the Sacrifice Cenote (this well is 197ft in diameter and its vertically-cut walls measure more than 39ft down to the water level)
- Creator:
- unknown (Maya)
- Published/Created:
- Mexico, Yucatán, Chichén Itzá
ca. 900-1521 - Date Depicted:
- ca. 1990's
- Materials:
- stone
- Notes:
- Site of Pre-Columbian Maya and Toltec city in the Yucatán peninsula, Mexico. It flourished during the Post-Classic period (ca. 900-1521 CE). Chichén Itzá ('mouth of the well of the Itzá') is named after its 'Sacred Cenote', a natural limestone sinkhole that served as a focus for pilgrimages and sacrificial offerings. Close artistic correspondences between Chichén Itzá and Tula in Hidalgo have suggested that the Central-Highland Mesoamericans invaded Yucatán and forced the local Maya to construct buildings and carve sculptures featuring their own forms and motifs. Central Mexican architectural elements include colonnaded structures, serpent columns and balustrades, and walls with sloping base sections. Sculptures show a preference for serial group arrangements and narrative compositions. Warrior figures with 'pillbox' headdresses, butterfly pectorals and atlatls (spearthrowers) are prominent, along with depictions of warrior animal totems (jaguars and eagles), chacmools (reclining offertory figures) and Central Mexican gods such as Tezcatlipoca and Tlalchitonatiuh.
- Topics:
- Architecture -- Pre-Columbian -- Maya -- (YVRC)
Architecture -- Pre-Columbian -- Toltec -- (YVRC) - Period/Style:
- Terminal Classic
- Culture:
- Mesoamerican: Maya
- Accession Number:
- 1A3-M-M-CI-M2
- Genre:
- landscapes (environments): natural environments: cenotes (AAT)
- Format:
- Image
- Content Type:
- Sculptures, Models, & Architecture
- Rights:
- Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement. - Access Restrictions:
- Yale Community Only
- Digital:
- architectural exteriors; deities; military; war construction complexes; sites (locations); archaeological sites; excavations (sites); complexes; sites (locations); historic sites quadrangle; cenote
- Source Creator:
- Gilchrist, Scott
- Source Title:
- Archivision Base Collection
- Source Created:
- 2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
ca. 1990's - Source Note:
- Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist
- Yale Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Digital Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Local Record Number:
- 4152
- OID:
- 10099161
- PID:
- digcoll:1830334