“Chichén Itzá, City of the Sacred Well”

This is a free presentation by Dr. Thomas H. Wilson, sponsored by Phoenix Chapter, Arizona Archaeological Society, at Pueblo Grande Museum, 4619 E. Washington St., Phoenix on Friday, December 11, 2015 at 7:00 pm. The great site of Chichén Itzá in the northern Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico has fascinated the world ever since the visits of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in the 1840s. Archaeological work at Chichén Itzá revealed that many buildings there resemble those found elsewhere in Yucatán, such as Uxmal, Kabah, and Labna, whereas others are a stark departure from the more common Mayan architecture of the peninsula. Who were the peoples who created one of the great sites of the ancient world? What do the different architectural styles mean? What is the relationship of the Yucatecan sites and the great Maya cities to the south, such as Tikal, Yaxhilán and Palenque? Dr. Wilson, Director of the Arizona Museum of Natural History in Mesa, earned his Ph.D. studying Chichén Itzá in the 1970s. Join him as he revisits Chichén Itzá based on a recent trip to Yucatán. This is not an Old Pueblo Archaeology Center event. For more information contact visit http://www.azarchsoc.org/Phoenix/.