History

For the history of Chichen Itza, there are three different types of information sources, each illuminating different topics:

* The archaeological evidence from excavations and recording of surface finds and surveying
* The inscription of texts in the Maya hieroglyphic writing
* The written reports from the period after the Spanish conquest

It is not uncommon that does not cover the information of the three source types and to a considerable extent even contradictory, because they arose in different situations. Archaeological findings are the unintended result of human life and therefore not consciously changed or focused. However, the unequal opportunities affect that traces reflected from various walks of life in material finds and the preservation conditions in the soil as a filter through which only parts of the visible reality of past lives. Contemporary written documents are governed by a different thematic selection: here it was the local rulers, who could carve themselves and their dynasties and their deeds for their own glorification in stone. The third group of sources, the centuries after the events were written, are shaped by the perspective of their authors and the intentions of the transcript. Here are the differences between the texts of Spanish clergy and the Indian village of writers quite fundamentally. In addition, each played by the different authors' access to information and the inevitable distortions, which were previously subject to such a crucial role.