Chicanná
Archeological site
Chicanná
The masks of Itzamná, the god of the sun and wisdom represented by a face with enormous open jaws and bejewelled ears, appear especially grandiose, in this small ancient city where the ruling class once lived, situated on the route between the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of Quintana Roo.
The pre-Hispanic settlement of Chicanná is small in scale and the constructions in its central area are distributed in small groups. The water supply for its former inhabitants might have been obtained from the nearby springs, or through the use of specially made rainwater collection chambers called “chultunes”. The ridges and terraces on the local hills reveal a specialized form of intensive agriculture.
Human occupation at the site in question can be traced back to the Middle Preclassic (before 200 BC) and the Late Preclassic (150 BC – c. 250 AD) periods, and continued until around 1100 AD. It flourished in the Late Classic (550-700 AD) and Early Postclassic (700-1100/1200 AD), although there are some traces of residual habitation belonging to the Late Postclassic (after the year 1200).
In the Yucatecan Mayan language, Chicanná means “the house of the serpent’s mouth," referring to the snake-like decorative features on some of the buildings. A few of the main structures stand out for the profusion of their ornamentation, with zoomorphic facades representing Itzamná with open jaws, as found in Buildings II and XX. Meanwhile, stucco masks in profile flank the main entrances of structures such as Buildings X and VI. Another distinctive feature are the towers on each side of a low, elongated building, as in the case of Building 1, which is a hallmark of the Río Bec region’s architecture and pottery. It is important to bear in mind that various buildings on the site are the result of more than one phase of construction.
Pottery found in Chicanná dating from the Middle and Late Preclassic periods provide relatively meager evidence of its occupation at that time. However, by the Early Classic, building activity clearly gathered momentum as seen in the stucco floors on Plaza A and the Structures IIIsub-2 and XISub, associated with the ceramics of the Sabucan complex (450-500 AD).
It was not until the beginning of the Late Classic that Building IIIsub-1 at the center of the settlement, the central part of Building I (without its towers), Structure VI, as well as Buildings VII, X and XI were all erected. Towers were added to Building I toward the end of the Late Classic, and Structure II was built, as well as the west annex of Structure VI and the first level of Structure XX. The building work did not stop in the Late Postclassic, because this is when Structures III and IIIA were built, as well as the east annex of Structure VI and the upper level of Structure XX.
The archeological site of Chicanná is located in the south of the state of Campeche, at kilometer 143 of the federal highway that runs between Escárcega and Chetumal. It was discovered by Jack D. Eaton during the early explorations for the Southeast Campeche project led by Tulane University’s Edward Wyllys Andrews IV, under the auspices of the National Geographic Society, from 1969 to 1971. He also excavated and consolidated large sections of Buildings II and XI.
Research and restoration in the area increased beginning in the 1980s. However, in each case the buildings were only partially excavated. During this period Román Piña Chan and his team focused on Structures I and XX, Ramón Carrasco Vargas on Buildings III, VI, XX and the annex of Building XVII, and Ricardo Bueno Cano cleared and consolidated Structures X, XI and the rear façade of Structure II during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
Recently, between 2011 and 2015, INAH’s regional office in Campeche carried out work in Chicanná as part of its program of small and large-scale projects at archeological sites open to the public, under the supervision of Vicente Suárez Aguilar. About a dozen pre-Hispanic buildings benefitted through a three-pronged approach: architectural maintenance and conservation to repair damage from human and natural causes; additional work to clear and restore buildings already partially explored some years ago; and, finally, a comprehensive excavation of buildings that complement the building sequence and contribute additional information about human habitation of the site (chronology, cultural relations, and so on).
Document
- Dirección del Centro INAHAdriana Velazquez Morletadriana_velazquezm@inah.gob.mx+52 (981) 816 9111Operación de Zonas Arqueológicas del Centro INAHCandelaria del Carmen Duarte Patzarqueologicas.camp@inah.gob.mx+52 (981) 816 9111, ext.138016
Plaza A
Because it was the main square of the site, different public events of civic-ceremonial character were held there, although it was reserved to congregate the privileged people of this ancient Mayan city.
Plaza A
Because it was the main square of the site, different public events of civic-ceremonial character were held there, although it was reserved to congregate the privileged people of this ancient Mayan city.
Structure I: It is an elongated building with two rows of three rooms each and two lateral enclosures that close the west side of the main Plaza. It is flanked by two large towers with rounded corner bodies that were decorated with frontal masks, and has simulated stairways leading to false temples. Its main façade has three entrances to whose sides there are remains of masks.
Structure II: It is located in the eastern sector of the Plaza and is a one-story building built on a small platform. Its central facade is richly decorated with an enormous mask that represents Itzamná, creator god of all things, according to the Mayan mythology. The access to this structure is constituted by a mouth; in the superior part there are the teeth, on which the nose, the squinted eyes and the eyebrows of the personage are observed, as well as the earmuffs, giving the impression of being a gigantic face with the open jaws. The access platform to the building, which is slightly elevated, resembles the tongue, and the presence of a tooth on one side gives the idea that it is the lower jaw of the sacred monster. The sides of the building are decorated with cascades of Chaac masks made of stone mosaic that were covered with stucco and painted in various colors, predominantly deep red. This structure has eight rooms and preserves remains of its cresting.
Structure III: It is located north of the Main Plaza and consists of a low base with stairways in the central part of the southern sector and a series of rooms.
Grupo Sureste
It is located to the southeast of the main plaza; it has several structures in process of intervention.
Grupo Sureste
It is located to the southeast of the main plaza; it has several structures in process of intervention.
Structure VI: Its main access stairway is located in the central part of the building; there are other smaller stairways on the east side. In the central façade there are cascades of masks in profile and vestiges of a zoomorphic mask in its superior part, besides remains of crestería crowning its highest part. In the east and west ends it is possible to appreciate two annexes added later, formed by series of rooms that once had vault, but that still conserve the passacordeles to the sides of the openings.
Structure VII: It is directly linked to the construction phases of VI until both were integrated into a single platform, although at first they were built independently. In fact, building VII, with a view to the east, has three originally vaulted rooms, without any communication between them but with well elaborated benches. In front of these rooms there is a large area or rest located on the platform.
Estructura XX
It is an almost quadrangular building with two levels, of which the lower one has 11 rooms and the upper one has four; the first ones have benches decorated with rosettes framing human faces.
Estructura XX
It is an almost quadrangular building with two levels, of which the lower one has 11 rooms and the upper one has four; the first ones have benches decorated with rosettes framing human faces. The building has an interior staircase that separates to the sides, allowing access to the upper rooms from the outside of the building. The main façade consists of an integral zoomorphic portal on each of the levels; the upper one is finished at the ends with cascades of masks in Chaac volume, and was crowned by a crest. In the lateral and later facades there are remains of partial zoomorphic doorways.
The well-established elite were commercially active in a number of regions.
