Dzibilchaltún (Yucatec: Ts'íibil Cháaltun /IPA: d̥z̥ʼiː˧˥biɭ tɕʰɒːl˦˥tuŋ/) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán, approximately 10 miles north of state capital Mérida.
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In the view of the modern researchers, the ancient builders of Dzibilchaltún may have chosen the site of the city to be as close possible to the coastal salt-producing region (some 22 km away), while still being located on a reasonably fertile and habitable terrain. The region between Dzibilchaltún and the sea coast is less suitable for human habitation, being either mangrove swamps or bare rock.[1]
The site has been continuously occupied for thousands of years, although it has expanded and contracted from mid-sized city to small town more than once in its long history. It is about 30 minutes from Merida and the famous sea that supposedly was the site of impact of the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs.
The most famous structure is the Temple Of The Seven Dolls, so named because of seven small effigies found at the site when the temple was discovered under the ruins of a later temple pyramid by archaeologists in the 1950s. On the Spring equinox, the sun rises so that it shines directly through one window of the temple and out the other. This is a similar event to the descending snake of Chichen Itza designed to show the power of the gods. The temple is connected to the rest of the site by a sacbe, or "white road," so-called because they were originally coated with white limestone, built over stone-and-rubble fill.
The other major feature of Dzibilchaltún is its cenote, located around the center of the city's ruins. It is thought that the availability of this source of clean drinking water influenced the builders choice of the location. Archaeological findings retrieved from the cenote by divers indicate that it was the center of a religious cult.[1] These days the cenote is used as a swimming hole by local residents and tourists year round.
Dzibilchaltún also contains the ruin of a 16th century Spanish church built at the site after the conquest.
The archaeological site contains a museum which houses Maya artifacts from the site and the adjacent region.