Chichen Itza Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This chapter proposes a historical reconstruction of Chichen Itza during the Terminal Classic period that combines recent ceramic and archaeological data with contemporary epigraphic studies. Through this reconstruction, we argue that we can clarify the understanding of the site’s internal dynamics and of the chronological relationship between its Maya or “Puuc” and Internationalstyle constructions, as well as of the site’s overall impact on northern Yucatan

- by and +1
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- Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Chichen Itza, Chichen Itza Archaeology

The archaeological site of Chichén Itzá, one of the best known ancient Maya cities, is located in the northern section of the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico.
Chichén Itzá has figured prominently in both past and present discussions on the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic periods in the northern Maya lowlands. Based on archaeological information and information derived from ethnohistorical sources, this city can be dated to a period from circa A.D. 700 to circa A.D. 1250, with its apogee placed between about A.D. 800 to A.D. 1050. The past and present discussions were directed specifically towards the origin of the inhabitants of the city, the arrival of K'uk'ulkán (“Feathered Serpent”), the origin of non-Mayan (“Toltec”) architecture and sculptural programmes at the site, and the model of its political organization.
The center of Chichén Itzá is dominated by a raised platform, which harbours buildings now known as El Castillo (The Castle), the Great Ballcourt, and the Temple of the Warriors. These buildings contain various non-Mayan architectural and sculptural traits. Buildings south of the centre, erected in a regional Maya style, contain a large number of inscribed monuments (mostly lintels) carrying long hieroglyphic texts, which provide Chichén Itzá with the largest corpus of surviving inscriptions in the northern Maya lowlands. Chichén Itzá figures prominently in a wide range of ethnohistorical sources from the Colonial period, such as the “Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán” by Fray Diego de Landa and the “Relaciones Geográficas” by various authors, all in Spanish, and the so-called “Books of Chilam Balam” of Chumayel, Maní, and Tizimín, all in Yucatec Maya.
In this study the author discusses the southern Maya lowland origin of the inhabitants of Chichén Itzá, the arrival of K'uk'ulkán and the introduction of so-called Toltec architecture and iconography, the identification of both gods and human beings in the inscriptions, and the political organization at Chichén Itzá. He presents extensive and detailed analyses of architectural and sculptural programmes, hieroglyphic inscriptions, and the Yucatec Maya “chronicles” from the Books of Chilam Balam.

- by Erik Boot
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- Maya Archaeology, Maya Epigraphy, Maya Architecture, Maya Iconography

Metodologías en arqueología subacuática

The article, originally published in Mesoweb's The PARI Journal <mesoweb.com/pari/journal/archive/PARI1103.pdf> depicts and analyzes two stelae from Chichen Itza. A prominent display of "Fire Bird" on Stela 2 prompts a review and... more

- by Bruce Love
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- Classic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Maya History

Chichen Itza is one of the best-known yet most enigmatic cities of the ancient Maya. Important scholarly debates still surround its basic chronology and the people who built and lived in the city. These academic discussions are complemented by a colorful background of popular speculation. Early explorers, such as Augustus Le Plongeon, merged the two and sometimes created wild tales involving lost continents, unrequited love, sacrificial virgins, and ancient Egypt. These narratives still fuel contemporary interest in Chichen Itza, as do the more recently developed tenets of New Age spirituality. Although there is no reason to think that Chichen Itza was built by aliens or Queen Moo of Atlantis, the city remains a focus of both scholarly and popular interest. In this introductory chapter, we hope to lift—or at least peek under— the veil of confusion surrounding Chichen Itza. Because we are archaeologists, we concentrate on the history of archaeological exploration and the interpretation of colonial and ancient texts concerning the site. Our goal here is to provide a background to " how we know what we know " about Chichen Itza and to hint at why we still do not know so many important things about this ancient Maya city.

- by Beniamino Volta and +2
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- Mesoamerican Archaeology, Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Maya Epigraphy
- by Geoffrey Braswell
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- Mesoamerican Archaeology, Classic Maya (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Toltec

This is a story of archaeology, romance and politics. In February 1923, the New York Times reporter Alma Reed was sent to the state of Yucatan with archaeologists from Carnegie Institution. They were conducting a preliminary study of Chichén Itzá with the sanction of the socialist and pro Maya governor Carrillo. Reed fell in love with the governor. She also interviewed the explorer Edward Thompson who had dredged the famous Well of Sacrifice. He gave her permission to publish the story of the well, starting a controversy over the well artifacts.

- by Elaine Schele
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- Maya Archaeology, Mayan Studies, Chichen Itza, Archaeological Looting
- by Vera Tiesler
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- Evolutionary Biology, Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology
- by Lourdes Márquez Morfin
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- Sacrifice, Mayas, Chichen Itza

The equinoctial sun comes back to the same point in the sky as is noticed in the case of Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple in India and in many ancient monuments around the world. Built at different time periods, these monuments are seen to be aligned with the tropical equinox and solstices of today. The only possible explanation for the same phenomena seen now of the structures built at different times of the past can be the absence of axial precession of the earth. This paper analyses this with evidences from the ancient monuments.

This book is a scholarly collection of essays on contemporary perspectives regarding the nature and significance of the sacred in the built environment. Recognized experts in the fields of architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture, and religious studies bring unique perspectives to a range of topics and examples. The book’s primary argument is that even though the post-modern condition has transgressed, degraded or superseded shared belief systems and symbolic languages, the experience, significance and meaning of the built environment retains a certain kind of veracity, potency and latent receptivity. Even though the authors approach the subject from a range of disciplines and theoretical positions, all share interests in the need to rediscover, redefine or reclaim the sacred in everyday experience, scholarly analysis, and design.

- by thomas Barrie and +2
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- Comparative Religion, Aesthetics, Architecture, The Everyday (Architecture)

Nuevas observaciones confirman que El Castillo, la pirámide principal de la antigua ciudad de Chichén Itzá,
en Yucatán, fue orientada para fungir como un marcador astronómico, a partir del cual los sabios mayas del
período Posclásico ajustaban el año, además de ser el centro de un cosmograma que en sus cuatro puntos
cardinales mantiene una alineación con los cenotes Sagrado, Holtún, Xtoloc y Kanjuyum. En 2012, el arqueólogo Ismael Arturo Montero García dio a conocer en la revista National Geographic del mes de agosto de 2013 -con base en valores de orientación- que el paso cenital del Sol por esta estructura prehispánica
ocurre los días 23 de mayo y 19 de julio, asomándose al amanecer en el eje de su esquina noreste en dirección hacia el Templo de las Mesas. La investigación articula la geometría, la astronomía y la arquitectura de una manera extraordinaria gracias al acimut del Sol al amanecer de su día de paso cenital en esta latitud
geográfica y a la singular geomorfología de su entorno.

- by Thomas Wilson
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- Mesoamerican Archaeology, Maya Archaeology, Chichen Itza

This study explores the multifaceted Maya Deluge Myth, from its pre-Columbian origins to current fantasies about a great world-destroying flood at the 13 Baktun period ending of the Maya Long Count on 21 (or 23) December 2012. No such flood is prophesied in any Maya records for this date, and the famous scene on Dresden Codex page 74 is discussed in its context as a symbolic depiction of the annual world-renewing downpours at the onset of the rainy season in springtime in the Maya world. The presiding gods of warfare and blood sacrifice were the agents of fertility and the regeneration of nature, and not the agents for the destruction of the Maya in a world-ending deluge. The misinterpretation of Dresden page 74 has propagated, unchallenged, for over a century of Maya scholarship and found its way into “new age,” fringe, and popular culture. This research helps to set the record straight along with providing a history of the meme.

- by John B Carlson
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- Religion, Comparative Religion, Mythology And Folklore, Cultural History

Este trabajo presenta un desciframiento de los glifos nominales de los personajes del Templo Superior de Jaguares en Chichén Itzá, quienes se identifican con el linaje de los Cocom, de acuerdo a documentos coloniales de la colección Willard. Se traza el origen del linaje Cocom desde el periodo Clásico Terminal y su adaptación a la llegada de los Toltecas. Posteriormente se examina su papel en el gobierno de Mayapán hasta el episodio de la matanza que conllevaría su enemistad con el grupo de los Tutul Xiu, y que marcaría el papel de cada linaje en la guerra de conquista de los españoles. Posteriormente se presenta la historia de Nachi Cocom y su asentamiento en Sotuta. Finalmente proponemos que el significado de Cocom como una enredadera de flores amarillas corresponde con la vainilla.

- by Cynthia Kristan-Graham
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- Iconography, Architecture, Maya Archaeology, History of Mesoamerica

La dicha nos invadió la mañana del 23 de mayo de 2012 cuando fuimos testigos de la erudición ancestral reservada por siglos. Gracias a las aportaciones de tantos investigadores e informantes que nos antecedieron y a los colegas que nos compartieron su conocimiento, ese día pudimos advertir impresionados, desde la pirámide de El Castillo o Templo de Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl), cómo el Sol, durante su día de paso cenital, se levantaba perfectamente alineado sobre el vértice de la pirámide en dirección al Templo de las Mesas.

As world-systems theory came to the fore in archaeology during the 1980s and 1990s, it became evident that the analysis of pre-capitalist core/periphery relations required modifications of this theory for its further use in the discipline. As a result, the comparative approach for world-systems analysis (Chase Dunn and Hall 1997) discerned four interaction networks that defined pre-capitalist world-systems. The appearance of the comparative approach coincided with archaeology’s detour into the diverse inquiries of postmodernism, for which conceptual advances in world-systems analysis went largely unnoticed by the discipline. The present study applies the nested network interaction framework of the comparative approach to examine material evidence for core/periphery relations between on the one hand two state level societies of central Mexico: Teotihuacan and Tula; and, on the other, West Mexico, one of the largest subareas of Mesoamerica. The operationalization of the nested networks as a material culture model for the Early Classic and Early Postclassic periods indicates that West Mexico was integrated into macroregional developments and change between 200-1200 CE. The present study represents one of the first comprehensive applications of the comparative approach in areal research undertaken in Mesoamerica.

- by Peter Jimenez
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- World Systems Analysis, Mesoamerican Archaeology, Teotihuacan, Mesoamerica

La Pirámide del Castillo, en Chichén Itzá, constituye un magnífico ejemplo del ingenio y habilidad de los eruditos mayas. En la pirámide se plasman conocimientos astronómicos, calendáricos y geométricos. Estudios recientes del autor demuestran la alineación del edifico al amanecer y el ocaso, en los días en que el Sol pasa por el cenit sobre Chichén Itzá. Por lo tanto el edificio está orientado al Sol cenital. Sin embargo, un estudio reciente del autor propone que además, en toda su composición, los constructores manifestaron en el número de escalones, escalinatas, cuerpos y paneles un mensaje aritmético que hacía evidente su calendario. De ser así, propongo que también incluyeron su interpretación del cosmos en el cuerpo de la pirámide, recurriendo a un patrón de números enteros en las medidas angulares y de longitud, donde factores, productos, dividendos, divisores y cocientes hacían evidente la metafórica armonía del espacio y el tiempo.

- by Ismael Arturo Montero García
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- Mesoamerica, Arqueología, Mexico, Arquitectura
- by Timothy W Knowlton
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- Uto-Aztecan Linguistics, Nahuatl, Ethnicity, Mayan Linguistics

La pirámide de El Castillo en Chichén Itzá, denominada en el año de 2007 por una campaña mediática una de las 7 Maravillas del Mundo Moderno, cobró notoriedad internacional al convertirse en edificio emblemático para los pregoneros de las supuestas profecías apocalípticas mayas del año 2012. Cierto es que nunca disminuye su popularidad, pues durante cada equinoccio de primavera es centro de atención para miles de turistas que se congregan para apreciar el “descenso de Kukulkán”, a tal escala que la NASA en el año 2005 fijó su atención en este fenómeno. Por otra parte, cuenta con un sinnúmero de publicaciones de todo tipo y en varios idiomas, que la hacen una verdadera celebridad. Su perfil es un icono tan reconocible para todo el mundo que ciertamente es una imagen de identidad para México, opinión adecuada pues en conjunto con todo el sitio arqueológico la pirámide está inscrita en la lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la UNESCO desde 1998, bajo el criterio de erguirse como una obra maestra del genio creativo humano.

Smith, Michael E. (2007) Tula and Chichén Itzá: Are We Asking the Right Questions? In Twin Tollans: Chichén Itzá, Tula, and the Epiclassic to Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Jeff Karl Kowalski and Cynthia Kristan-Graham,... more

Objectives: The ancient city of Chichén Itzá in the northern Yucatán of Mexico was one of the most important in the Maya area, but its origins and history are poorly understood. A major question concerns the origins of the peoples who founded and later expanded the ancient city. Hundreds of people were ritually executed and their bodies thrown into the waters of the Sacred Cenote at Chichén. Materials and methods: In this study, we use strontium and oxygen isotopes to study the place of origin of a large sample of these individuals. Isotopes are deposited in human tooth enamel. Enamel forms during the first years of life, remains largely unchanged long past death, and can provide a signature of the place of birth. If the isotope ratios in enamel are different from the place of death, the individual must have moved during his/her lifetime. Results: Comparison of our results from the cenote with information on isotope ratios across the Maya region and elsewhere suggests that the individuals in the cenote came from a number of different parts of Mexico and possibly beyond. Discussion: It is not known if all of the sacrificial victims resided in Chichén Itzá, but their suggested origins likely reflect patterns of population movement and social networks that existed between Chichén Itzá and both neighboring and distant regions.

- by Vera Tiesler and +2
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- Human sacrifice (Anthropology Of Religion), Migration Studies, Maya Archaeology, Strontium Isotope Analysis
- by John B Carlson
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- Archaeology, Anthropology, Anthropology of Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage

In this paper presented at the Pre-Columbian Society of Washington DC, November 2013, the author proposes answers to questions which have puzzled scholars since the 19th century concerning the enigmatic recumbent Mesoamerican figure known as the "chacmool", so named by French adventurer and photographer Augustus Le Plongeon. While most scholars are convinced that chacmools were a genuine innovation for a specific type of sacrificial altar for the placement of an offering bowl, several key questions have remained: (1) What was the culture and place of origin of this remarkable sculptural innovation? (2) Who were these male figures? (3) What is the origin and meaning of the challenging recumbent pose for these human figures with the unblinking, enigmatic gaze? (4) What were they, and what were they called, or described with a phrase, in any Mesoamerican language? Based on recent archaeological discoveries, the author presents a new interpretation of the "chacmool" as the elite "hip ulama" ball game ballplayer stylistically rendered in a serene and formalized ritual “por abajo” stance, well after the game is over, to play the final role as the recipient of the sacrifices. With this new interpretation the author hopes to open the door to finding the indigenous name or description of the "chacmool".

- by John B Carlson
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- Religion, Native American Religions, Comparative Religion, Mythology And Folklore

El presente estudio tiene como objetivo reconstruir hipotéticamente los ejércitos mayas de las tierras bajas septentrionales hacia el Clásico Tardío-Terminal (600 - 1000 d.C.), a través de la arqueología de la guerra y el análisis gráfico de diversos murales provenientes de los sitios de Chichén Itzá, Chacmultún, Ichmac y Mulchic. Para apoyar laa propuesta se emplearon algunos documentos históricos relativos a la conquista y colonización de la península yucateca, los cuales proporcionan valiosa información relacionada con la beligerancia maya.

- by Eduardo A. Tejeda Monroy
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- Maya Archaeology, Maya warfare, Chichen Itza, Maya Paintings
- by Khristaan D. Villela
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- Archaeology, Mexican Muralism, Pre-Columbian Art, History of Archaeology

Although rarely addressed in modern scholarship, over the last several decades, design implemented at archaeological and historic sites has become the organizing agent to present ancient cultures to the international public. Using topologies such as site museums, reconstructions, interpretive installation art, and comprehensive site planning, physical construction is now used to metaphorically guide visitors through the chronology and visual culture of a specific place while physically guiding them through the material remains. This dissertation examines the concepts of space, culture, and design and their junction as part of the overarching concept of “heritage interpretation.” Through a series of individual site studies, this document discusses how different types of intervention can affect visitor understanding, experience, and the interpretation of history and ancient cultures by the greater public. As a comprehensive study, the research examines what methods have been used and are currently being used to facilitate public engagement with ancient remains through design, specifically placing physical interpretations within an immersive theoretical and historical context. By utilizing a multi- disciplinary approach, the dissertation examines how the concepts of ancient art, cultural heritage, and modern construction interact at some of the most famous world historical sites, and how archaeological interpretation can affect a broader understanding of time, place, and culture.

- by Kristin M Barry
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- Archaeology, Tourism Studies, Tourism Management, Architecture

Castillo Viejo or the Castillo at Old Chichen lies within the Principal Group of the Southwest, 1.3 k south of the Castillo or the site center, and contains never-before published hieroglyphic inscriptions, ten short texts that are parallel in format, syntax, and content. This paper, originally published at <mesoweb.com/pari/journal/archive/PARI0902.pdf> summarizes the findings.

- by Bruce Love and +1
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- Maya Archaeology, Maya Art, Maya Epigraphy, Mayan Studies

these Toltecs and Itzas anyway? Were they related to the Olmeca Xicalanca, the Xiu, or the Nonoalca? Was there a special relationship between Tula and Chichin? These are typical of the questions scholars have asked about the relationship between Tula and Chichtn ItA, from early debates between Desire Charnay and Daniel Brinton through some of the chapters in this volume.

Abstract. The present essay is a hypothetical proposal that tries to reconstruct the army of the Chichén Itzá polity during the Terminal Classic (800 - 1100 D.C.). Based on the iconographic analysis of diverse murals and monuments dated for this period, as the Ball Game Great Court, Las Monjas, the Tables Temple, the Warriors Temple and its sub-structure well-known as the Chac Mool Temple. At first will be exposed the armament systems used by the itza', later the possible military organization, as well as the control systems and conclude with the tactics employed during the warlike conflicts.

- by Eduardo A. Tejeda Monroy
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- Iconography, Maya warfare, Chichen Itza, Terminal Classic Period

This Diplôme des Études Approfondies Thesis was presented in 2002 at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Religions et Systèmes de Pensée, under the direction of Dr. Michel Graulich.
It resumed investigations about the Feathered Serpent iconography in the Late Classic site of Chichen Itza. Thanks to a multi and interdisciplinary methodology, the author considered fertility aspects related to human sacrifice as well as to cosmovision.

Inestable, conflictivo, decadente, etc., éstos y otros términos han sido utilizados por diferentes investigadores para describir un período un tanto oscuro, a comparación de sus predecesores períodos, en la investigación histórica de mesoamérica. Cuando se ingresa a una nueva etapa en la cronología de la historia mesoamericana siempre ha llegado cargada de cambios que son visibles ya sea en su estructura económica, política, militar, material y arquitectónica. Es decir que los cambios ocurridos durante el postclásico fueron muy profundos en las civilizaciones mesoamericanas (Bahn, 2003). El período postclásico fue dividido en dos épocas por los investigadores: el Postclásico Temprano o Formativo que inicia más o menos desde el 900 al 1,200 d.C. y el Postclásico Tardío que va desde ca. 1,200 al 1,500 d.C. (Sharer, 2003). Probablemente los cambios que se registraron en este período se mantuvieron hasta que este llegó a su culminación, es decir hasta la entrada de los españoles en la península de Yucatán por el año de 1517 (Ivic de Monterroso, 1999).

- by Gerson Rodríguez
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- Politics, Mesoamerica, Archaeology of Area Maya, Chichen Itza
- by Geoffrey Braswell
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- Obsidian, Maya Archaeology, Ancient economy, Chichen Itza

Session schedule for the 84th Annual Meeting for the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM, April 10th-14th, 2019

The Mesoamerican ballgame has been a constant source of research, due to its unique character and its presence as part of prehispanic urbanism. Very important historical texts such as the Popol Vuh, refer to the mythological and symbolic dimension of the game. In one of the scenes of this story, they narrate the moment in which young Hun Hunahpu and Xbalanque play ballgame with the lords of the underworld, which ends with the beheading of Hun Hunahpu and his triumph. In the archaeological and iconographic records, scenes related to the sacrifice, decapitation and other offerings are observed in the context of the ballgame, evidence of its high importance in the Mayan society.

- by Maria Felicia Rega
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- Iconography, Maya Archaeology, Guatemala, Popol Vuh
- by Beniamino Volta and +1
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- Maya Archaeology, Maya Epigraphy, Maya Archaeology, Maya Art History, Maya Architecture, Postclassic Maya
- by Jeremy Coltman
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- Archaeology, Art History, Central America and Mexico, Aztecs
- by Julio Bermudez
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- Comparative Religion, Aesthetics, Art, Architecture

We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850-1100) period. This is a time often associated with increased international trade relations and the growth of Chichen Itza as a dominant regional power in the northern Maya lowlands. Critical to the increased volume of international trade were the merchants who transported goods along the coast of Yucatan in large trading canoes. By combining a macroscopic assessment of the ceramics with visual, XRF, and INAA analyses of the obsidian artifacts, we gain insight into the various socioeconomic forces at work moving goods around the Peninsula. Given the paucity of Terminal Classic settlement in the interior Yalahau region, Vista Alegre appears to be an isolated site during this period, approximately 40 km from the nearest coastal neighbor. This allows us to focus on coastal exchange as the sole means by which goods arrived at the site. Our preliminary data contribute to the growing literature on the role market economies played in the Maya area, and the increased opportunities this afforded coastal peoples as circum-peninsular trade became more common through time. En este trabajo utilizamos información sobre la cerámica y la obsidiana del antiguo puerto Maya de Vista Alegre, Quintana Roo, México, para discutir el intercambio a larga distancia durante el periodo Clásico terminal (ca. 850-1100 dC). Dicho periodo es frecuentemente asociado con el incremento de las relaciones comerciales internacionales y el crecimiento de Chichén Itzá como centro regional dominante en las tierras bajas Mayas del norte. Los comerciantes que transportaban bienes a lo largo de la costa de Yucatán en grandes canoas comerciales fueron fundamentales para el aumento del volumen del comercio internacional. Combinando la examinación macroscópica de la cerámica con el estudio visual, por fluorescencia de rayos X y por análisis instrumental de activación neutrónica (XRF e INAA, respectivamente, por sus siglas en inglés) de los artefactos de obsidiana, se obtuvo información sobre las diversas fuerzas socio-económicas involucradas en el transporte de mercancías alrededor de la península. Dada la escasez de asentamientos del Clásico terminal en el interior de la región de Yalahau, Vista Alegre parece haber sido un sitio aislado durante este periodo, localizado a aproximadamente 40 km del asentamiento costero más cercano. Esto permite enfocarnos en el intercambio costero como el único medio por el cual las mercancías llegaron al sitio. La información preliminar aquí presentada contribuye al creciente conjunto de investigaciones sobre el papel que desempeñaron las economías de mercado en el área Maya y las mayores oportunidades que esto brindó a los pueblos costeros.

- by Zachary Hruby and +1
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- Mesoamerican Archaeology, Ceramic Analysis (Archaeology), Maya Archaeology, Lithic Technology

Microbial biofilms frequently cause the esthetic and biological deterioration of stone monuments. Chichén Itzá, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and as one of the seven new wonders of the world, is one Maya archeological site affected by biofilms. In the present study, we analyzed the biofilms at three different building complexes of Chichén Itzá: the Lower Temple of the Jaguars, the Temple of the Warriors, and Tzompantli. Samples of biofilms and detached rocks were taken from walls with abundant white-, green-, black-, and orange-colored biofilms. The morphology of rock fragments and dust was analyzed by electron and optical microscopy and was structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction. An HCl treatment (5% v/v) was subsequently applied to eliminate carbonates. The morphological analysis evidenced the presence of cyano-bacteria, algae, and lichens. Some algae formed small nodules on orange-or black-colored rocks. Lichens were associated with a distinct mineral content on the inner surface of rocks versus on the outer surface. The presence of calcium oxalates such as weddellite (C 2 CaO 4 ·2H 2 O) and whewellite (C 2 CaO 4 ·H 2 O) and other minerals, including quartz and feldspars, was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The lichens collected from the Lower Temple of the Jaguars and Tzompantli were therefore confirmed to disintegrate rock surfaces through biomineralization and the formation of oxalate crystals. At sites with greater solar radiation, a higher quantity of weddellite and a lower quantity of whewellite were observed. In conclusion, the establishment of microorganisms on the stone surfaces of Chichén Itzá causes esthetic damage and also leads to the biomineralization of these rock surfaces.