Chinkultic

Chinkultic, sometimes Chincultic, is a moderate-size archeological ruin in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. It is part of the Lagunas de Montebello National Park. This pre-Columbian city belongs to the ancient Maya civilization. The city flourished in the Maya Classic Era, from about the 3rd through the 9th century. Most of the sculptures were produced in the last 300 years of this era, with hieroglyphic inscriptions dating from 591 to 897. Post-Classic-Era occupation of the site continued until the 13th century, after which it was abandoned. The site has some step-pyramids and some 200 smaller buildings, most in undisturbed ruin. Chinkultic has carved stone stelae depicting the site's rulers. The stelae are thought to depict the accession of the rulers as warriors, shown through the shields and spears they carry. Other sites have depictions like this, however they usually focus more on cosmology. In the case of Chinkultic, the focus is all on the rulers as warriors. The site contains a court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame, which a marker tells us was dedicated on 21 May 591. Other stelae present at Chinkultic display rulers authority, showing a ruler and then a figure who is clearly subordinate. These stelae depict scattering rituals which are very similar to ones depicted at the sites of Bonampak and Yaxchilan. What makes the figures at Chinkultic different is that the

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).