Secret of the Incas

[The Blue Knight]

If you really want to be fussy, there is now a chain running up the middle of the stairs to help people get up and down. It is scarey steep (exceedingly dangerous steep).

Have you been there? Dog! I have studied this and other sites, but always from afar. We have a prominent Mesoamerican expert at PSU I studied with in the late 80's. Lots of the more central Mayan sites further south are overgrown, or were when discovered. It is believed now that this may originally have been an Olmec site, as it is similar to La Venta in many ways. Mesoamericans routinely built over the top of existing structures, like their pyramids, making them progressively larger over centuries. Maybe there are some megabloks filling them?

Yes, I've been there (that's my own photo - one of the poorer ones, but it shows the whole structure). It's an amazing site - very large with lots of structures. I was familiar with the hoop game, but I had no idea how far up the hoop actually was until I saw it. Alas, I was within a few miles of Tikal and my wife wanted to turn back (I wanted to photograph at sunset, and she wanted to eat and not be on the roads after dark). I'll go back there another time.

Dunno about the Olmecs and Chichen Itza specifically, though I'm familiar with the theory.

I am envious of you in this regard. Missed Tikal at sunset? Bummer. Though, I think your wife was wise not to be on the roads after dark. I had a prof. who was accosted near Palenque by banditos! Once they saw the size of his group, they fled, but it was scary he said. The hoop, or ring in the "ball game" is now thought to be the way score was kept, and not part of the game itself. It is very high, or off to one side, and in different spots altogether on the "court" at different sites. Now a ball game vignette would be a nice MOC.

[Buford]

Very nice cliff dwelling, thank you for sharing the link.

This is the altar I don't want to make. A head and a few slopes and it would be easy.

http://www.dallas.net/~lalo/chocmool.jpg