page_title: Chichen Itza
section_title: Sacred Cenote
hierarchical_section_title: Chichen Itza / Site description / Architectural groups / Great North Platform / Sacred Cenote
caption_attribution_description: English: "Cenote de los Sacrificios" at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. A karst lake, reflecting the karst's water table. Deutsch: "Cenote de los Sacrificios" in Chichén Itzá, Halbinsel Yucatán, Mexiko. Ein Karstsee / eine Einsturzdoline mit Karstgrundwasserspiegel. Français&#160;: «&#160;Cenote de los Sacrificios&#160;» à Chichén Itzá, Péninsule du Yucatán, Mexique. Un lac karstique, reflétant la nappe phréatique du karst.
context_page_description: Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. The archaeological site is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán State, Mexico.
  Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the Northern Maya Lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the Northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.
  Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site.
context_section_description: The Yucatán Peninsula is a limestone plain, with no rivers or streams. The region is pockmarked with natural sinkholes, called cenotes, which expose the water table to the surface. One of the most impressive of these is the Cenote Sagrado, which is 60 metres (200 ft) in diameter and surrounded by sheer cliffs that drop to the water table some 27 metres (89 ft) below.
  The Cenote Sagrado was a place of pilgrimage for ancient Maya people who, according to ethnohistoric sources, would conduct sacrifices during times of drought. Archaeological investigations support this as thousands of objects have been removed from the bottom of the cenote, including material such as gold, carved jade, copal, pottery, flint, obsidian, shell, wood, rubber, cloth, as well as skeletons of children and men.
caption: The Sacred Cenote.
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