caracol at chichen itza

7/23/2019 Caracol at Chichen Itza

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In the Yucatn peninsula of Mexico, at the site of Chichn Itz, sits a platform, on top of

which sits a tower. It stands out from the other buildings found at the site due to its cylindrical

shape, and odd, unaligned construction. his building is the Caracol, a building that has caused

many archaeologists to scratch their heads and wonder about its exact function since it first

began to be exca!ated in the early "#$$%s. here is no written record of what the building was

used for, and so archaeologists ha!e only their &nowledge of the Maya people and the

construction of the building itself to go off of. 's the building was studied more in depth,

archaeologists began to come to the conclusion that the building was dedicated to (enus. )ater

still, archaeoastronomers examined the building%s strange construction, and came to theconclusion that the building may ha!e been used as an astronomical obser!atory. *hile there is

no concrete e!idence, the architecture of the building and astronomical alignments point towards

the Caracol tower was an astronomical obser!atory dedicated (enus

The Maya and Venus

In order to understand the Maya%s astronomical reasons for building an obser!atory

dedicated to (enus, one must first examine the why the Maya found (enus significant. 't a

certain point in the year, the planet (enus begins to rise on the horizon slightly before the sun

rises, and each day rises successi!ely earlier than the sun, until it reaches it%s pea& at +- abo!e

the sun '!eni "#/$0/12, and then the process re!erses, until (enus rises with the sun, and is no

longer !isible. he first rising of (enus is called the heliacal rising'!eni "#/$0/12, and at this

time is brighter than all ob3ects in the morning s&y other than the sun and moon, gi!ing it the

nic&name of the 4Morning 5tar6 refil "#/0112. he Maya &ept extensi!e records of the cycles

of (enus, found on the bar& lea!es of an almanac called the 47resden Codex6 refil "#/0112,

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and they found that the cycle, or synodic

period, repeated e!ery / years, a cycle of

8.#8$ days. ' synodic period is defined as

4the inter!al between successi!e identical

configurations of a planet relati!e to the sun.6

'!eni "#/$0/+2. his intense fascination with

the planet (enus, where did it come from9

*hy not the planet Mars9 It seems to come

from the Maya fascination with 4magicnumbers that fit together to form cycles6

'!eni "#/$08:";8:82, as with (enus% 8,#8$

periodicity.


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in !egetal growth6, or, more appropriately, 4A Buetzal plumes, or e!en the split tongue of the

serpent6 aldwin "##/0:D2. ueztalcoatl;?u&ulcn%s death in the year " Eeed Milbrath

"###0"2, he was apotheosized, and became the 4Morning 5tar6, (enus. >uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn,

ha!ing now been ele!ated to a god, also became connected with the central Mexican *ind god,

Fhecatl, and this god became one of >ueztalcoatl;?u&ulcn%s many forms. aldwin "##/0::2.

he importance of >ueztalcoatl;?u&ulcn%s many forms will become more apparent when we

turn our attention to the Caracol at Chichn Itz itself.

Quetzalcoatl-Kukulcn at Chichn Itza

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>uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn%s rule and subseBuent worship left a huge mar& on the site of

Chichn Itz, both figurati!ely and Buite literally. he most iconic feature of the site is, of

course, he emple of ?u&ulcn, also &nown as Gl Castillo '!eni "#/$08D/2, a well;&nown and

iconic image often associated with the public%s !iew of the Maya. 7edicated to >uetzalcoatl;

?u&ulcn, the large pyramidal structure features the god in the form of the

plumed serpent balustrade walls of the north stairway. ' large

tourist attraction, Gl Castillo was constructed in such a way

that at the !ernal and autumnal eBuinoxes, about an hour

before sunset, sunlight stri&es the building insuch a way that the bac& of the plumed

serpent is brilliantly lit. '!eni "#/$08/12.

H. Ei!ard "#$2 said that 4o the ancient

peoples who worshipped at Chichn ItzJ a manifestation such as this must ha!e seemed a most

awe;inspiring hierophany6 '!eni "#/$08/1;8/:2, hierophany here defined as 4a re!elation of

the sacred in an ob3ect or e!ent of the otherwise profane world6 Gliade "#10""2. he emple of

?u&ulcn and the hierophany are only a few of the tributes to >uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn, others

including the =latform of (enus, and of course, the Caracol.

The Caracol and its Connection to Quetzalcoatl-Kukulcn

'nd finally, we reach our destination, the Caracol. Gl Caracol, meaning snail aldwin

"##/0::2 in 5panish, sits 3ust to the southwest of the emple of ?u&ulcn. Kne of the first

features of the structure that one will notice is its strangely out;of;place, circular construction.


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structures were all associated with Fhecatl aldwin "##/0::2, the *ind god, one of >ueztlcoatl;

?u&ulcn%s many forms. his relationship Buic&ly helps to establish the Caracol as a dedication

to >uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn. 'nother physical feature of the Caracol that connects it to

>uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn is the 4borders of the stairs leading to platforms on the first and second

le!els of the Caracol6, which are decorated with intertwined sna&es aldwin "##/0::2. ut,

perhaps more significantly than either of these features, are the astronomical alignments that the

tower has with the planet (enus, and other astronomical phenomenon.

Astronomical Alignments


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imes in "#/:0 4I am sure there are some astronomical e!ents that the Caracol was designed to

study that western astronomers ha!e no idea about6 5toc&ton "#/:0D2. 7espite this, the

alignments we do ha!e are Buite incredible.

Criticism

here are many that argue that the Caracol was not, in fact, an astronomical obser!atory.

In fact, one of the first exca!ators of the site, ?arl Euppert, studied the way the architecture of

the building, and examined the windows and shafts that led to some of the astronomical

alignments. Euppert was too s&eptical to say definiti!ely that the tower was used as an

astronomical tower due to the tower that sat on top of the Caracol being missing. 't the end of

his "#D1 boo& studying the building, he had this to say0

o suggest here that other windows and shafts existed and to speculate as to theirbearing or use would be purely hypothetical. A It is possible that obser!ationsmade at !arious times of year may ha!e been used by priests or leaders inad!ising people of the approaching seasons with regard to agricultural pursuits orreligious and ci!il e!ents. May it not also be within reason to suppose that theCaracol might ha!e ser!ed as a military or ci!il watch tower, or forcommunication by means of signals with outlying settlements9 In the writer%sopinion, until such time as further proof may be forthcomingA any statement asto the use of the structure is con3ectural. Euppert "#D10812

Euppert%s conclusion does ha!e some meritN we ha!e no concrete e!idence as to how the Caracol

was actually used. Oowe!er, since the time of Euppert%s publication, further research has been

done on the Caracol, it%s connections to >uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn, and it%s astronomical alignments

not only with (enus, but also with a multitude of astronomical phenomenon. he e!idence

against Euppert%s claim is extensi!eN the Caracol was almost certainly a Maya astronomical

obser!atory.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, e!idence for the Caracol ower at Chichn Itz being both a dedication

from the Maya to (enus, their ruler apotheosized >uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn and an astronomicalobser!atory is o!erwhelming. he cylindrical construction of the tower and the adorning sna&es

easily point to the buildings dedication to >uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn, and the astronomical

alignments with (enus% maxima only ser!e to strengthen the argument. he additional

alignments found support the idea that the building was indeed used as an astronomical

obser!atory. *hile we don%t ha!e all the possible alignments that might ha!e once existed when

the building was first constructed, the alignments we do ha!e show that the astronomical

prowess of the Maya at Chichn Itz was nothing short of amazing. *hile, at present, we ha!e

no way of being truly certain of the Caracol%s true purpose and function at Chichn Itz, the

e!idence that it was an astronomical obser!atory dedicated to >uetzalcoatl;?u&ulcn spea&s for

itself.

Works Cited

'!eni, 'nthony"#/$ Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico. 'ustin, exas0


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Milbrath, 5usan"### Star "ods of the Maya. 'ustin, exas0

caracol at chichen itza

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