The Ossuary - High Priest's Grave

Photo: edenpictures, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)

A stop on Chichen Itza Self-Guided Tour, a free self-guided tour.

This smaller step pyramid is known as the Ossuary, or El Osario, and also as the High Priest's Grave. Its nickname comes from what was found inside. A vertical shaft at the top drops through the pyramid into a natural cave about 12 meters below.

In the late 1800s Edward Thompson, the same man who later dredged the Sacred Cenote, dug into that cave and found human burials and offerings. He decided it was the tomb of high priests and gave it its name. Archaeologists today doubt both parts of that story: the building was probably not built as a tomb, and nothing shows the people buried there were priests.

The Ossuary holds another record. An inscription here carries the latest known Maya calendar date at Chichen Itza, corresponding to the year 998, one of the last written traces of the city's heyday.

Look at the top of the pyramid and picture the shaft dropping straight down through it into the dark cave below.

Getting here: From El Castillo, head south-west across the plaza and follow the path south into the trees for about 5 minutes.

Did you know?: The latest dated inscription at the site, from 998, was found here - after that date, the written record at Chichen Itza falls silent.

Photo op: Stand back on the path north of the pyramid to fit the whole structure in the frame with the trees around it.

More on Wikipedia: Chichen Itza · Edward Herbert Thompson · Maya calendar

The Ossuary - High Priest's Grave

Stops on this tour