Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (140 page)

A flint-like material, usually black or dark brown in colour, a form of very finely crystalline mineral silica occurring as nodules in carboniferous limestone. Although it has a conchoidal fracture like flint it is not so fine-textured and does not lend itself to such fine working.

 
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A regional type of late Saxon pottery (Saxo-Norman pottery) dating to the period ad 850 to ad 1150 manufactured in northwest England.

 
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A kind of defensive work comprising a series of closely set wooden spikes or upright stones that served to impede a cavalry charge or hamper the use of hand weapons such as slings and swords. Mainly found outside the ramparts of Iron Age
HILLFORTS
in northern Europe.

 
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Motif comprising a series of connected W-shapes. Often used in the decoration of pottery and metalwork.

 
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A long-lived settlement and ceremonial centre situated on the dry limestone plain of the Yucatán. There are two main phases of construction. Old Chichén was built in Maya style and dates from the 7th century
ad
. Several of the natural waterholes or
cenote within the area of the settlement became sacred places into which offerings were regularly deposited.
During the 9th century
ad
a new and much larger ceremonial centre developed north of the old settlement. This change is traditionally associated with the arrival of the Toltecs, and certainly some of the new structures were constructed in Toltec style. However, recent work suggests that the development of the site was not simply the result of invaders, but a more gradual process.
In ad 918 Itzá people came to the area and began building new structures in the Puuc style. These included what are known as the High Priest's Grave, the inner structure of the Castillo (see below), and the Caracol which is the only round building on the site and was probably an observatory.
Toltec influence at the site coincides with the banishment of the deity Quetzalcóatl from Tula in ad 987 and it may be that Chichén Itzá became a cult centre for Quetzalcóatl after this time; representations of the feathered serpent abound in the latest buildings.
At the centre of the site is a large stepped pyramid 25m high known as El Castillo. A pathway leads from the base of the pyramid to the Sacred Cenote at the north end of the site. Other major buildings include the Temple of the Warriors, the Venus Platform, the Platform of the Skulls (
tzompantli
), the Platform of the Eagles, the Court of a Thousand Columns, two ball-courts, a sweat bath, and a market area.
Use of the site was relatively short-lived, and by the mid 13th century Chichén Itzá had become largely abandoned, as power shifted away to a new centre at Mayapan.
[Rep.: A. M. Tozzer , 1957,
Chichén Itzá and its cenote of sacrifice
. Harvard: Peabody Museum]

 
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A general term used to refer to simple village farmers living on the northern fringes of Mesoamerica around the turn of the 1st millennium
ad
. The Chichimec were regarded as barbarians by the more sophisticated people of central Mexico, and were portrayed as fierce warring people. Between ad 1175 and 1425 some of these peoples moved south into the Basin of Mexico, the best known of which were the Aztecs. Chichimec is also a language group.

 
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