ern staircase of the pyramid. Because of the pyramid’s silhouette and
the angle of the sun, the shadow takes the shape of a serpent that
slithers along the pyramid’s face as the sun moves across the sky.
Excavations inside the Castillo in 1937 revealed an earlier nine-
level pyramid within the later and larger structure. Inside was a royal
burial chamber with a throne in the form of a red jaguar and a stone
figure of a type called a chacmooldepicting a fallen warrior. Chac-
mools (for example,FIG. 14-15,found near the Castillo) recline on
their backs and have receptacles on their chests to receive sacrificial
offerings, probably of defeated enemies. The distinctive forms of
the Mesoamerican chacmools made a deep impression upon 20th-
century sculptors (FIG. 35-59).Mesoamerica 37714-14Aerial view
(looking southwest)
of the Castillo, Maya,
Chichén Itzá, Mexico,
ca. 800–900 CE.
A temple to Kukulkan sits
atop this pyramid with a
total of 365 stairs on its
four sides. At the winter
and summer equinoxes,
the sun casts a shadow
in the shape of a serpent
along the northern
staircase.14-15Chacmool, Maya, from
the Platform of the Eagles, Chichén
Itzá, Mexico, ca. 800–900 CE. Stone,
4 101 – 2 high. Museo Nacional de
Antropología, Mexico City.
Chacmools represent fallen warriors
reclining on their backs with recep-
tacles on their chests to receive
sacrificial offerings. Excavators dis-
covered one in the burial chamber
inside the Castillo (FIG. 14-14).1 ft.