Chacmool
A chacmool is a sculpture depicting a reclining figure with back slightly raised, head turned to the right, legs drawn up, elbows resting on the ground, and hands holding a vessel or plate on the stomach, perhaps for offerings or human sacrifices. Chacmools are associated with the Toltec capital of Tula, but are also found in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.
The name chacmool derives from a name (chaacmol) given by Augustus Le Plongeon to a sculpture excavated at Chichen Itza in 1875. Stephen Salisbury Jr. changed the word to chacmool, an archaic Mayan word for 'puma,' in 1877.
Chacmools can be found throughout Central Mexico and Yucatan. In addition to Tula and Chichen Itza, sites known for chacmools include Mexico City, Cempoala in Michoacán and Tlaxcala, and Quirigua in Guatemala.
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