Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza was city in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico built and occupied by the Maya. The temple of Kukulkan , a stepped pyramid, is the major edifice in Chichen Itza.

Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America) consisted of many civilizations, including Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec.

The Maya civilization occupied what is currently southeastern Mexico (including Yucatan), Guatemala, Belize and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The history of the civilization is divided by historians into several periods:

• Preclassic (2000 BCE - 250 CE)
• Classic  (250 CE - 900 CE)
• Postclassic (950 CE - 1539 CE)
• Contact with Spanish (1511 CE - 1697 CE)

There were many Maya city-states. In the early Classic period, cities in the southern parts of the Maya area, such as Tikal (Guatemala), Calakmul (Campeche, Mexico) and Copán (Honduras) were dominant. In the late classic period northern cities such as Uxmal and Chichen Itza, both in  Yucatán, Mexico, were more dominant.

The architecture at Chichen Itza is mainly Maya but shows influences from Teotihuacan and central Mexican civilizations. Some historians think it was the result of invasions from central Mexico. Others think it is due to the peaceful transmission of cultural influences.