[[Image:Jade offering2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Jade offering (Post-Classic period) from the Sacred Cenote]]
==History==
[[File:ChichenCastillo Maler PD.jpg|thumb|In 1892 by Teobert Maler (1842-1917).]]
According to the Mayan expert Dr. Sylvanus Morley, the Itzas first settled in the area known as Old Chichen about 435 AD (Classical period) and began to construct stone buildings in the Chenes and Puuc styles between 495 and 625. The site was abandoned towards the end of the seventh century and the people migrated south to Champotón where they stayed until 968 and then retuned to settle in Chichen bringing with them a new [[Toltec]]-influenced architectonic style. This was characterized by severe building lines and ornamental motifs based on the feathered serpent-god [[Kukulcán]] (equivalent to Quetzalcoatl in the Mexican highlands). <!--To be continued-->
[[Image:Plan of Chichen Itza.png|thumb|left|200px|Map of Chichen Itza]]
==The Buildings==
The site contains several stone buildings occupying an area of 4 square miles. The stepped-pyramid Temple of Kukulcán (named "El Castillo" - the castle - by the Spanish), is the most well-known edifice. The exact function of many buildings was unkown to the Spanish and names given to edifices are often because of some similarity to buildings in their own culture, such as The Nunnery or The Church. Most other names come from decorative features that have been on them. The High Priest's Temple is a small replica of "El Castillo" Pyramid; the name comes from an elite burial discovered by early excavator, the American archaeologist [[Edward H. Thompson]] (1856 - 1935).