El Castillo which in English means the castle is the face of Chichén Itzá. This building is also known as Kukulkan by the people that lived there. It was constructed by the Mayan civilization in Yucatan, Mexico during the 9th century. This pyramid was based on the Mayan/Toltec calendar as a result, it would help them keep records of the time .The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, known for developing the furthermost advanced writing system for its time, as well as its art, architecture, and astronomical systems. Although they did not invent these systems they fully developed them for their use. The design of the city allows for numerous different buildings around that helped this civilization express its belief and therefore becoming a…show more content… Located in the state of Yucatan, Mexico, the pyramid was built with nine platforms with a staircase on each of the four sides. These staircases have “balustrades on the sides with feathered serpents” whose heads are at the bottom of the stairs and whose bodies stretch up to the top.
The main entrance of the building is located at the north side of the building. Each of the stairways in El Castillo has exactly 91 steps; multiplied by four is 364 plus the top platform, it equals to 365, which are the days in the Mayan/Toltec solar calendar. This was part of their strategy to keep track of time, which would enable them to predict on which days eclipses would occur. 1 The pyramid has 52 panels in the nine terraces; 52 is the number of years in the Toltec cycle. Each of the nine terraces is divided in two; 18 for the months in the year Maya…show more content… Although they had numerous gods they kept each on, separate from the other and worshiped them separately. Archaeologists have found several bones buried deep in the bottom of the wells, as well as the jewelry, clothing they wore in their final hours.8
Another type of sacrificial ceremony that took place with the Mayans was at the games. The Mesoamerican ballgame or Ōllamaliztli was a sport with ritual associations played since 1,400 B.C.9 This game is very similar to racquetball in which the objective of the game is to keep the ball at play never letting it touch the ground.
In the most widespread version of the game, the players struck the ball with their hips, although a number of versions allowed the use of forearms, rackets, bats, or hand stones. The ball was made of solid rubber and weighed as much as 4 kg (9 lbs.), and sizes differed greatly over time or according to the version played.