A northern Maya Tollan mixed many architectural accents
Chichen Itza, in Yucatán’s Tinúm Municipality, was a major Terminal Classic Maya city spanning Late Classic through early Postclassic centuries (roughly 600–1200 CE). Likely one of Mesoamerica’s mythical Tollans, it may have held the Maya world’s most diverse population.
The site ranks among the largest Maya cities, and the mix of architectural styles across it points to contacts reaching far beyond the peninsula. Mexico’s federal government manages the ruins through the national archaeology institute, INAH, although the land beneath the monuments remained in private hands until 29 March 2010. With more than 2.6 million visitors in 2017, it is among the most visited archaeological sites in the country.
In Maya the name describes the well-mouth belonging to the Itzá, joining chi’, mouth or edge, with ch’e’en, well. The Itzá were a lineage group that came to dominate the northern peninsula politically and economically, and their name may mean enchanters of the water, from its, sorcerer, and ha, water.
Spelling varies. Spanish writes Chichén Itzá, and other languages sometimes keep the accents to show that each word is stressed on its final syllable. Modern Maya orthography prefers Chich’en Itza’, which distinguishes the ejective consonant at the start of the word for well and marks the glottal stop after a high-toned final vowel. Traditional Yucatec spelling, used from the sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century, simply wrote Chichen Itza, since final stress was normal and needed no mark.
Before the Itzá gained control, the city seems to have had another name, recorded in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel and in hieroglyphic inscriptions at the ruins from the Late Classic period. Most scholars agree it began with the word for seven, but the rest is disputed, with readings such as Seven Great House, Seven Bushy Places, Seven Great Rulers or Seven Lines of Abnal.
Source: Chichen Itza
