Page:History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas.pdf/28

Rh '''III. The Colonization Period''' (450-700 A.D.). This period is chiefly notable for us because it marks the beginning of documentary history and because the Itzas are first specifically mentioned in connection with it.

About 450 Ziyan Caan or Bakhalal was built, to be occupied only some sixty years. (Spinden, 1913, Table 2; Brinton, 1882, Chr. I.) According to Chronicle V the use of the name Itza dates from the founding of Chichen Itza, an event which took place about 510. At this time there also occurred important changes in the calendar system, an event symbolized in the Chronicles by the phrase “Pop was set in order.”

There is, then, in this period of colonization, a well-defined migration northward. The ancient cities in the south did not die out at once, and we may suppose that the sixth century of our era was a time of great cultural activity. It is interesting to know that the old Maya culture and the Tiahuanaco culture (the two greatest American civilizations) were probably in part at least contemporaries. (Cf. Means, 1917.)

The Chronicles are vague and divergent on the question of how long the first occupation of Chichen ltza lasted. Chronicle I says 120 years; Chronicle II says 200; Chronicle III says 240. As two of the three important Chronicles place the length of occupation at 200 years or more, we may assume that it lasted from about 500 to 700 of our era.

To this period we may confidently attribute some of the structures at Chichen. It has been shown that the Casa de Monjas at Chichen underwent several periods of construction. It is what Mr. Thompson has called “Old Chichen,” however, that is most surely associated with the period we are now