Chichen Itza "El Caracol" – Northern Yucatan, Puuc/Toltec Styles.
Chichen
Itza, known in Maya as ‘Mouth of the Well of the Itzas’ is
a superb site. It is broken up into three distinctive groups and a visitor
really needs a couple of days to fathom all there is to see. The architecture
is both Puuc and Toltec in style and construction phases vary from one
period to another. Most of the structures have been consolidated and
are reasonably well preserved.
The site of Chichen Itza is easily accessible from Merida or from Cancun
and is usually packed with tourists (the best time to visit is early
morning or late afternoon). For those interested, there are volumes
of publications on the site in both English and Spanish.
I have made some studies of several of the structures through time.
The piece I have chosen to publish is called ‘El Caracol’
and it is speculated to be an observatory. It is unique in being the
only round construction in Chichen Itza.
