Chac Mool

The reclining Chac Mool on the upper platform of the Temple of Warriors. Many of these unique statues have been found throughout Chichen Itza.

Chac-Mool is rarely found in Maya artwork, but elsewhere in Mesoamerica, especially central Mexico, many other examples have been found. That so many have been found at Chichen again demonstrates the influence of the Toltecs on the city.

The bowl resting on Chac's stomach, according to some, received the still-beating hearts of sacrificial victims. There is no direct evidence that a sacrificial ritual was practiced at Chichen Itza, and many contend that the bowl was used to hold other types of offerings or possibly to hold an oil torch.

Chac Mool in Maya means "Red Claw." Augustus Le Plongeon, who found the first of these statues at Chichen in 1875, originally named it Chaacmol. His patron, Stephen Salisbury, renamed it Chac Mool and the name stuck.

-- Chris Reeves