CHAPTER 1 ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATION 73Figure 1.16 Ritualized battle as depicted in a mural at the Epiclassic-period city of Cacaxtla,
Mexico. Courtesy of Debra Nagao.
On the Gulf Coast, the center of El Tajin is an important site that gained promi-
nence during the Classic period. Closely linked to Teotihuacan in the early part of
the Classic period, El Tajín reached its peak of development after the fall of Teoti-
huacan. The site is noted for being a center of the ball game cult, with seventeen ball-
courts mapped at the site, and many of the artifacts recovered during excavations at
the site are paraphernalia used in the ball game (see Figure 14.4 in Chapter 14).The Yucatán Peninsula: Chichén Itzá.
During the Late Classic through Early Postclassic periods, cities in the northern Yu-
catán Peninsula carried on much of the southern Classic Mayan tradition. These
centers, which did not suffer the immediate effects of the southern collapse, are
best known for their unique architectural styles. In the Puuc region, sites exhibit in-
tricate mosaic designs on building façades and frequent depictions of Chac (rain
god) masks over doorways and at the corners of buildings. Uxmal, Sayil, and Labná
are the most elaborate examples of the Puuc tradition. These centers fell into de-
cline within a hundred years of the collapse in the southern lowlands, perhaps for
many of the same reasons.
Chichén Itzá is a unique Mayan city with combined architectural and artistic el-
ements that reflect aspects of the more traditional northern Classic Period Puuc style
as well as influences that point to contact with Central Mexico, indicative of what is
called an “international” or “cosmopolitan” style. The traditional section of Chichén
Itzá is located to the south of the Great Platform, while the architecture of the Great
Platform reflects the International style with such notable features as “the Castillo”—
a four-stair, serpent balustraded temple, the Great Ballcourt (one of the largest in
Mesoamerica), the Mercado gallery-patio compound, and the Temple of the Warriors
(Figure 1.17). Linked to the Great Platform and its massive central plaza by a stone
road, or sacbe,is the Cenote of Sacrifice, an important pilgrimage locality, where
many offerings and human remains were recovered.