DK Travel : Cancún and the Yucatán : Uxmal: The Carvings

Top 10 Uxmal: The Carvings

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1. Monstermouths

Temple entrances in the form of giant monster-like faces, such as on the House of the Dwarf at the Pyramid of the Magician, made a striking connection between a temple and the gods of the earth.
2. Birds Quadrangle

Around this small quadrangle are beautiful images of parrots and other birds, which symbolized the unpredictable elements in nature.
3. Nunnery Quadrangle: Mayan Huts

A feature of Puuc carving is the combination of complex symbols with everyday images. The huts carved on the Nunnery’s South Building are little different from those in Yucatán villages today.
4. Nunnery: Vision Serpents

The semi-triangular patterns on the East Building are Vision Serpents – conduits between men and the “Otherworld.”
5. Nunnery: Serpent Heads

The huge feathered snakes winding around the West Building are probably also Vision Serpents. Human faces emerge from their jaws.
6. Nunnery: Flowers and Lattices

Lattice work represented the huts in which meetings were held, while flowers were a symbol of magic. The combination of the two denoted a ceremonial site.
7. Muyal Symbols

The simple spiral pattern repeated frequently on the Nunnery and Governor’s Palace represents the Mayan word for cloud, muyal , another symbol of contact with the heavens.
8. Lord Chak

The figure in a spectacular headdress set within the façade of the Governor’s Palace is believed to be Lord Chak himself.
9. La Picota

The phallic column called the “whipping-post” in Spanish has inscriptions on it that have never been deciphered. It formed part of a fertility cult that was a distinctive feature of Uxmal.
10. Parrots of the Great Pyramid

Stylized macaws (guacamayas ) feature in the carvings on the temple at the top of the Great Pyramid as symbols of uncontrolled nature.