The Least Earth

This chapter concerns landscapes at Chichen Itza, including actual terrain and two- and three-dimensional representations of landscape. The focus is the Mercado, a gallery-patio building, the largest structure in the Group of the Thousand Columns, an elite walled compound in the site center. The Mercado is a performative space for elite lineage rituals, and its carved and painted dais functioned as a throne. The throne’s embellishment—which includes a sky-earth profile, skybands, and processions of bound figures—suggests a primordial place of origin, fertility, and political authority. The chapter also discusses more broadly the power of landscape in establishing identity, the trope of walking at Chichen Itza, and associated Yucatec Maya moral codes.