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tj Hoffman | all galleries >> travel_adventures >> Viva Yucatán! >> Chichén Itzá >> chacmool_statue > Chac mool in Temple of the Warriors doorway...
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1988

Chac mool in Temple of the Warriors doorway...

On the top platform of the Temple of the Warriors sits [reclines, actually] this chac mool figure.
In the left foreground, the dish supported by the statue's belly is visible. Some have suggested
that this feature was used as an altar for holding sacrificial hearts as offerings to the gods.
Notice that the facial features are quite un-Maya-like.

Chac-mool has nothing to do with the Chaacs [Maya rain gods]and was invented by Augustus Le Plongeon, a late 19th century Maya explorer who should be noted for his photographic contributions as well as excentricities.

Le Plongeon regarded himself as explorer, archaeologist, doctor of medicine, as well as an attorney on assorted ocassions!


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