Chichén Itzá Photographs

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Metadata

Core Title Chichén Itzá Photographs

Collection description "Chichén Itzá (chee-chehn eet-sah)."
"Mayan for 'The Mouth of the Well of the Itzas.'"
"One of the most visited and best known of all Maya ruins is Chichén Itzá, which lies near the center of the Yucatán Peninsula. This site is bisected by a major highway (but provides passages to walk underneath the highway) and offers a group of temples north of the highway that is sometimes referred to as 'New Chichén,' while the group south of the highway is often referred to as 'Old Chichén.'"
"The site’s largest structure is a prominent pyramidal temple about 75-feet high, with a small temple at its top. It is named either 'El Castillo,' or the 'Temple of Kukulcán,' and towers above the other ruins, making it easily seen at a distance. Originally, there were stairways on each of its four sides, but only two of them have been restored. An inner chamber of the structure contains a steep and narrow stairway that was discovered during excavations. This chamber offers two interesting stone carvings to be viewed. One is a throne in the shape of a jaguar, that is painted red, with green pieces of jade covering its spots and eyeballs, and the other is a reclining figure of the Toltec God, 'Chac Mool,' that is similar to the same larger carved figure on top level of the nearby, 'Temple of a Thousand Warriors.'"
"A path beginning a short distance from 'El Castillo' leads to a large and deep 'Cenote,' ('Cenote' is the name used for the many cavern-like sink holes scattered throughout the Yucatán Peninsula’s limestone surface, which collect precious rain water and provide natural pools which were the only sources for drinking water in the lake-less, stream-less and river-less Yucatán Peninsula). The Chichén Itzá’s 'Sacred Cenote' was used by the ancient Maya to drown human sacrifices, and its depth has been explored by archaeological divers, providing the discovery and recovery of bones of the victims and other artifacts."
"A smaller 'Cenote' is found in the southern Chichén Itzá area, which appears to have been used only as a source for drinking water."
"Off to one side of 'El Castillo,' is a large structure known as the 'Temple of a Thousand Warriors,' where long rows of tall stone columns were erected on two sides of the temple’s ground area, each column representing the carved stone portrait of a individual Maya warrior. The warrior figure columns once provided support for a roof structure, which enclosed a large area of the temple beneath it. The Temple’s upper level contains many other stone carvings, including a large figure of the Toltec 'Chac Mool' god surrounded by tall columns using a 'Toltec Feathered Servant' motif. One group of smaller figures are used as supports for a large stone table, and a row of stone masks portraying 'Chac,' the Maya Rain God, on one upper wall."
"The Maya Ball Game, with men wearing heavily padded uniforms and using a heavy, natural-rubber ball, was played in virtually all of their ancient cities. The largest ball court ever found was at Chichén Itzá, and it lies immediately West of the 'El Castillo.' Although there is considerable conjecture as to exactly how and why the game was played, all archaeologists agree that the Maya Ball Game was also a sacred religious ceremony. For example, while the teams often bounced the rubber ball off the sidewalls of the court, it is believed that they carefully avoided allowing the ball to touch the court’s lower surface for fear of angering the Maya Gods of the Underworld. In the Chichén Itzá ball court there are two large stone rings with much smaller holes in them, mounted high on each of its sidewalls through which the players attempted to hit the hard rubber ball in order to score a point. The players were allowed to hit the ball with only their shoulders, knees or heads to score a point. All of this, made the game extremely dangerous and difficult. Particularly because it is believed that the losing team captain may have been beheaded following the game. As evidence of that theory, a wall carving on the Chichén Itzá ball court side wall, depicts one player holding the severed head of the losing player with multiple arrows depicting blood flow streaming from the head."
"A further mystery lies in a small temple at the far end of this Ball Court, which includes a wall carving depicting a bearded man. Since none of the Maya Indians grew beards, there is a question as to why a man with a beard is portrayed."
"A small elaborate temple built above one the ball court’s sidewalls is believed to have been meant for ball game viewing by royalty. Two huge Toltec stone Fathered Serpent heads lie in front of the temple to give it added importance. The temple’s entrance also includes a full-sized carved stone jaguar as if demanding tickets."
"Several other important temples in the southern half of the site, include 'Caracol' (“snail” in Spanish) temple, named for its snail-like labyrinth interior design). The 'Caracol' temple clearly was used as a sky observatory and originally had three upper window openings aligned with the positions of Venus and the Sun, allowing sightlines to observe celestial events at the horizon. Two other impressive Chichén Itzá southern area temples are known as the 'Montas,' or Nunnery, and the 'La Iglesia,' (church)." -- Payne Johnson.
“See also John Lloyd Stephens. Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, with numerous engravings. Revised from the latest American edition, with additions, by Frederick Catherwood. London: Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co., 1854. https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/asset-management/2A3BF1QKX7SV5?WS=SearchResults.”

Creator Johnson, Payne B. (photographer)

Publisher University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Date Created 1974-01/1992-12

Coverage Temporal 1974-01/1992-12

Place Name Central America (regions), Chichén Itzá (archaeological sites), Mexico (countries), North America (continents), Yucatán (states)

Subject Archaeological site location (lcsh)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Format 40 photographs (extent), ruins (aat)

Internet Media Type multipart/related

Type images

Source 20210812-johnson-meso-shoaf (batch), Chichén Itzá Photographs (subcollection), Payne B. Johnson Latin American Photographs (collection), University of Southern California (contributing entity)

Identifier 2 (box), 0550 (collection number), johnson-chi (filename)