The Ossuary
at Chichén Itzá
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On the road leading south toward the older part of Chichén
Itzá stands a pyramid of nine levels similar to the
Pyramid of Kukulcán, but of smaller size. Researchers
believe it to be the tomb of a high priest. |
This pyramid is called the Ossuary and like
the Pyramid of Kukulcán there are four sets of steps with
large serpants' heads resting on the ground and atop the pyramid
is a high temple decorated with Chaac masks on its walls. There
are pillars with masks of the rain god found at the base of the
pyramid.
This structure covers a deep cavern which leads
to another urban center outside of Chichén Itzá.
There is a shaft cut into the center of the pyramid which archeologists
say represents the entrance to the World of the Dead--where both
the Maya paradise as well as its inferno were represented.
Several tombs with rich offerings of precious stones
and copper have been found inside the shaft. The weath of the
objects found inside one of the tombs led its discoverer Edward
Thompson to believe that this was the tomb of a great Mayan priest.
[Based on Let's Learn about Chichén-Itzá
, Chichén-Itzá: The City of the Wise Men
of the Water. by Roman Chan, All About the Mayas.
by C. Dorese. published by Producción Editorial Dante (Mérida,
Mexico) and Incidents of Travel in the Yucatan by Stephens
and Catherwood published by Smithsonian Institute Press (Washington
D.C.). All available in paperback and highly recommended.]
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