Site · Mexico
Chichén Itzá
Maya, 600–1200 CE
Chichén Itzá is the great Maya city of northern Yucatán, flourishing between about 600 and 1200 with the Castillo pyramid, the largest ballcourt in Mesoamerica and the Sacred Cenote. Its Toltec-style architecture marks the Early Postclassic.
| Country | Mexico |
|---|---|
| State / province | Yucatán |
| Dates | 600–1200 CE |
| Status | Archaeological zone and UNESCO World Heritage Site |
| Managed by | Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) |
| Access | Open to the public; climbing the structures is prohibited |
| Coordinates | 20.683, -88.568 (public site) |
What was found
Dredging of the Sacred Cenote recovered gold and jade offerings, copal, textiles and human remains. Excavations found the Chac Mool and jaguar throne inside El Castillo, Plumbate and Fine Orange pottery and the tzompantli skull rack.
Rules
Nothing may be collected, dug, moved or removed at Chichén Itzá; it is a protected archaeological site managed by Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), and taking artifacts, stones or samples is an offence. All pre-Hispanic remains are property of the Mexican nation under the 1972 federal monuments law, and export is prohibited. This article is for study and context only and is not a collecting locality.
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Chichén Itzá" (Site). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/sites/chichen-itza. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-chichen-itza,
title = {Chichén Itzá},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/sites/chichen-itza}},
year = {2026},
note = {Site article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.