Astronomy and architecture in the north of the Yucatan peninsula: Comparative analysis between Chichén Itzá and Dzibilchaltún

Abstract

Urbanism of Maya society is an adaptive use of natural resources to their needs, but also, represent through architectural arrangements within the settlement, a symbolic commemoration of their worldview in which the nature represented is a sacred element to which it is linked to structures in which, containing astronomical events are key piece of architectural, urban and religious settlement. In Dzibilchaltún and Chichén Itzá, concepts like the underworld, water elements and astronomy are fundamental pieces that are represented in a temporary period of overlap through its architecture, linked with agricultural ceremonies and fertility.