DEBATING CHICHEN ITZA

What is it about?

The chronology of Chichen Itza is important not only for understanding northern Yucatan, but, because it reflects so wide a range of outside influences, for clarifying the cultural dynamics of Mesoamerica as a whole between AD 800-1100. For various reasons, it has proven difficult to conclusively pin down the period of peak interaction with the non-Maya world, the period when most of the so-called Toltec buidings were constructed at the site. This paper discusses the basis of Chichen Itza's chronology and argues against a new chronology moving the "Toltec" period to a later date. It also argues that despite the evidence of non-Maya traits and ethnohistorical claims of population intrusions, later Chichen Itza developed seamlessly and progressively from an earlier community not unlike its northern Yucatecan neighbors.

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