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Chac Mool
Not on view
Sculptures of this type, featuring a reclining male figure holding a bowl on his torso, were given the invented name Chac Mool by nineteenth-century explorers during an archaeological expedition to Chichen Itza. The figure is adorned with a headdress, earflares, bracelets, and anklets, all likely depicted as if they were made of jade. The bowl served as a receptacle for sacrificial liquids and burnt offerings and may have been symbolic of the circular cenotes.
Las esculturas de este tipo que retratan a una figura masculina reclinada sosteniendo un cuenco en su torso fueron denominadas "Chac mool" por los exploradores Alice y Augustus Le Plongeon durante su expedición arqueológica a Chichen Itzá en siglo XIX. La figura tiene un tocado, orejeras, brazaletes y tobilleras, todas representadas como si fueran de jade. El cuenco servía como receptáculo para líquidos colectados durante los sacrificios y para ofrendas que involucraban fuego, y podría haber sido relacionado simbólicamente con la forma circular de los cenotes.
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