Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza is the largest of the Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Yucatán, Mexico. The city was built by the Maya civilization.

Modern investigations at Chichen Itza

In 1839 United States travel writers Benjamin Norman, followed the next year by John Lloyd Stephens, visited and published accounts of the ruins of Chichen Itza. Various other expeditions made further examinations of the ruins in the following decades. In 1901 the United States Consul to Yucatán, Edward H. Thompson bought Chichen Itza (as the ruins had no protected status then) and moved there with his Maya wife, and spent some 30 years doing amateur archeology there, including dredging the first artifacts out of the Sacred Cenote. In 1924 the Carnegie Institution and Harvard University began a 20 year excavation project directed by Sylvanus G. Morley, which included restoring two sides of the Castillo. In 1961 the Sacred Cenote was dredged more thoroughly by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). In the 1980s INAH excavated some additional buildings and restored the other two sides of the Castillo.

Related Topics:
1839 - United States - John Lloyd Stephens - 1901 - Edward H. Thompson - 1924 - Carnegie Institution - Harvard University - Sylvanus G. Morley - 1961 - National Institute of Anthropology and History

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Chichen Itza is today a World Heritage Site and is a very popular tourist destination; it is the most visited of the major Maya archaelogical sites. Many visitors to the popular tourist resort of Cancún make a day trip to Chichen Itza, usually with time to view only a portion of the site.

Related Topics:
World Heritage Site - Cancún

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