Uucyabna — Chichén Itzá before Chichén Itzá

Chichén Itzá is by far the most famous archaeological site in Mesoamerica, attracting over 2 million visitors a year.  But few realize that the name Chichén Itzá itself references a non-Yucatec-Maya ethnic group that only arrived at the city in the 9th century C.E., roughly 1000 years before the city was founded.  The name Chichén…