Chichen Itza Photo Gallery by James Q. Jacobs

The Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza, a Photo Gallery

Above. A rainbow seemingly emanates from the chac masks on a corner of the Temple of the Columns.

The images present views of Chichen Itza, a Mayan archaeological site in Yucatan, Mexico.

Each thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version of the same photograph.

A Chac Mool statue faces the main plaza and the Castillo pyramid from the centerline of the doorway atop the Temple of the Columns platform. A section of the main doorway beam remains in the socket atop the wall above the Chac Mool.

The Temple of the Columns is so named for the many columns in the foreground and to the right of the platform. The columns probably supported a roof. In the main doorway two serpent columns supported a large wooden beam.

The interior of the structure at the northern end of the Ballcourt is sculpted in bas relief. Red paint remains. Viewing from the Temple of the Jaguars (right), the very level horizon, a distinct aspect of Chichen Itza's location, is seen.

Perched high above the Ballcourt this double serpent column doorway faces the Ballcourt. High walls with a projecting stone ring line the two long sides of the Ballcourt. This building is atop the east side of the Ballcourt and faces away from the main plaza and the Castillo.

A close-up view of the 'jaguar mool' inside the Castillo. Note the jade eyes. Perhaps these treasures are why the guards chased me out of the ruins at sunrise! Another Chac Mool statue has been found within the Castillo pyramid.

The present version of the Castillo sits atop an earlier pyramid. This Chac Mool and the jaguar statue in the background are located on top of the previous pyramid. Excavators have created a tunnel up the original stairs and under the present stairs, seen in the next row. A jaguar mool close-up follows below.

This giant serpent's head decorates the base of the Castillo stairway.

A view of the author (in 1983) astride the Ballcourt's wall with the Castillo in the background.

View of the Caracol in the foreground, the Castillo dominating the left background and the Temple of the Column on the far right. This view was taken from atop one of the Nunnery buildings.

The buildings in the Nunnery area display Puuc style
architecture, in contrast to the Toltec influence
in the Ballcourt and Castillo area.

Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy:
Contemporary Understandings of Prehispanic Astronomic Knowledge

Dresden Codex detail.

The Dresden Codex Lunar Series and Sidereal Astronomy

The Cannibalism Paradigm: Assessing Contact Period Ethnohistorical Discourse
Teotihuacan Mural Art: Assessing the Accuracy of its Interpretation

Los Principales Edificios Antiguos

"Que en Yucatan hay muchos edificios de gran hermosura que es la cosa mas señalada que se ha descubierto en las Indias ... que la razon de haber tantos es por mudarse las poblaciones muchas veces; y que en cada pueblo labraban un templo ...

"Que estos edificios de Izamal eran ... por todos sin haber memoria de los fundadores ... Que los segundos edificios mas principales son los de Tikoch y Chicheniza ... Que Chicheniza es un asiento muy bueno a diez leguas de Izamal y once de Valladolid, donde dicen que reinaron tres señores hermanos que vinieron a aquella tierra de la parte poniente, los cuales eran muy religiosos y que asi edificaron muy lindos templos. Y que vivieron sin mujeres muy honestamente, y que el uno de estos se murió o se fue, por lo cuallos otros se hicieron parciales y deshonestos, y que por ello los mataron. ... "

Relacion De Las Cosas De Yucatan, Fray Diego de Landa

" 11 Ahau was the katun when they carried on their backs. Then the land-surveyor first came; this was Ah Ppizte who measured the leagues. Then there came the chacté shrub for marking the leagues with their walking sticks. Then he came Uac-hab-nal to pull the weeds along the leagues, when Mizcit Ahau came to sweep clean the leagues, when the land-surveyor came. These were long leagues that he measured. ..."

"... the great mounds came to be built by the lineages and all the things which the rulers did. They were the ones who built the mounds. It took thirteen katuns and six years for them to construct them. The following was the beginning of the mounds they built. Fifteen four-hundreds were the scores of their mounds, and fifty more made the total count of the mounds they constructed all over the land. "

THE BOOK OF CHILAM BALAM OF CHUMAYEL, Ralph L. Roys, 1933, Carnegie Institution Washington D.C.

Newark Archaeogeodesy
Assessing Evidence of Geospatial Intelligence in the Americas

Dresden Codex detail.

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