Chichen Itza (Spanish: Chichén Itzá), from Yucatec Maya: Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha'; "at the mouth of the well of the Itza") was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization. The archaeological site is located in the municipality of Tinum, in the Mexican state of Yucatán.
Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic (c. AD 600–900) through the Terminal Classic (c.AD 800–900) and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period (c. AD 900–1200). The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.
Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was
likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred
to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most
diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to
the variety of architectural styles at the site.
The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the
site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de
Antropología e Historia(National Institute of Anthropology and History). The
land under the monuments had been privately owned until 29 March 2010, when it
was purchased by the state of Yucatán.
Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archaeological sites
in Mexico; an estimated 1.2 million tourists visit the ruins every year.
Name and orthography
The Maya name "Chichen Itza" means "At the
mouth of the well of the Itza." This derives from chi', meaning
"mouth" or "edge", and ch'en or ch'e'en,
meaning "well." Itzá is the name of an ethnic-lineage group
that gained political and economic dominance of the northern peninsula. One
possible translation for Itza is "enchanter (or enchantment) of the
water", from its, "sorcerer", and ha,
"water".
The name is spelled Chichén Itzá in Spanish, and
the accents are sometimes maintained in other languages to show that both parts
of the name are stressed on their final syllable. Other references prefer the Maya orthography, Chichen
Itza' (pronounced [tʃitʃʼen itsáʔ]). This form preserves the phonemic distinction
between ch' and ch, since the base word ch'e'en (which,
however, is not stressed in Maya) begins with a postalveolar ejective
africate consonant. The word "Itza'" has a high tone on the
"a" followed by a glottal stop (indicated by the
apostrophe).
Evidence in the Chilam Balam books indicates
another, earlier name for this city prior to the arrival of the Itza hegemony
in northern Yucatán. While most sources agree the first word means seven, there
is considerable debate as to the correct translation of the rest. This earlier
name is difficult to define because of the absence of a single standard of
orthography, but it is represented variously as Uuc Yabnal ("Seven
Great House"), Uuc Hab Nal ("Seven Bushy Places"), Uucyabnal ("Seven
Great Rulers") or Uc Abnal ("Seven Lines of
Abnal"). This name, dating to the Late Classic Period, is recorded
both in the book of Chilam Balam de Chumayel and in hieroglyphic texts in the
ruins.
Location
Chichen Itza is located in the eastern portion of Yucatán
state in Mexico. The northern Yucatán Peninsula is arid, and the rivers in
the interior all run underground. There are two large, natural sink holes,
called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at
Chichen, making it attractive for settlement. Of the two cenotes, the
"Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote (also variously known as
the Sacred Well or Well of Sacrifice), is the most famous. According to
post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya 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 artifacts of gold, jade, pottery and incense, as well
as human remains. A study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado
found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice.
Political
organization
Several archaeologists in late 1980s suggested that unlike
previous Maya polities of the Early Classic, Chichen Itza may not have been
governed by an individual ruler or a single dynastic lineage.
Instead, the city’s political organization could have been structured by a
"multepal" system, which is characterized as rulership through
council composed of members of elite ruling lineages. This
theory was popular in the 1990s, but in recent years, the research that
supported the concept of the "multepal" system has been called into
question, if not discredited. The current belief trend in Maya scholarship is
toward the more traditional model of the Maya kingdoms of the Classic Period southern
lowlands in Mexico.
Source : Wikipedia
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