Chacmultún Platform Pyramid (Puuc)
Chacmultun · Chacmultún · Puuc Platform Pyramid at Chacmultún
Late Classic (Puuc)·Maya (Puuc)·🇲🇽 Yucatán, Chacmultún — Puuc region north of Tekax, near Labná, Mexico
About
About Chacmultún Platform Pyramid (Puuc)
Puuc platform pyramid at Chacmultún — 10 m high stepped platform 30×25 m base with 4 vaulted palace superstructures (Chenés–Puuc mosaic) and colonnaded halls, c. 600–950 CE, plus ritual ballcourt pyramid? Actually main pyramid hosts painted murals (red on white) of processions inside vaulted chambers, and labyrinthine Chacmultún caves below (Maya water ritual). Excavated by Teobert Maler 1888 then H.E.D. Pollock 1930s and Alfredo Barrera Rubio (INAH) 1980s. Puuc water-management city with chultuns.
Why it mattersOnly Puuc platform pyramid with preserved murals and direct palace-cave hydrological association; links architecture to water caves.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Iconography of red procession murals
- 02Function of 4 superimposed palaces
Theories
- 01Platform served as rain-cult focus tying palace to Chac cave
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 600–950 CE (Late Classic Puuc)
- Period
- Late Classic (Puuc)
- Culture
- Maya (Puuc)
- Builders
- Maya of Chacmultún
- Purpose
- Elite platform-palace pyramid with mural hall
- Abandoned
- c. 950 CE
- Rediscovered
- 1888 (Teobert Maler)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 600–950 CE (Late Classic Puuc)
Initial construction
c. 1623 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
20.1694° N · 89.3453° W · 80 m · 3 mapped features
Platform pyramid mass
pyramid30×25 m 10 m platform with 4 palaces
20.1694° N · 89.3453° WPainted mural chamber
muralRed procession murals inside vault
20.1694° N · 89.3453° WChacmultún caves
cave500 m labyrinth below pyramid with water jars
20.1698° N · 89.3455° W
Gallery