The Atlantean Columns and the Lintel of the Initial Series Temple at Chichen Itza

Extract

A portal with foreign ornamentation is more complex than a plain, unadorned doorway. Mexican by derivation, the Atlantean columns of the Initial Series Temple at Chichen Itza were incorporated in Maya architecture. The sculptured figures were given uplifted arms in a pleasing conceit that strong arms sustained the overhead load. These uplifted arms caused projections alongside the pair of heads, so that a stone lintel which rested solely on the inner projections would have had insecure support; hence the requirement for greater extension of the lintel on the Atlantean columns. Some marginal covering of the inscription on the underside of the lintel apparently resulted, but it did not affect the initial series, 10.2.9.1.9, 9 Muluc 7 Zac.