Chichen Itza as a Capitalīy the ninth century, Chichen Itza was a de facto regional capital, with its rulers controlling much of the central and northern Yucatan peninsula. Researchers found that the human remains had bone marks and other wounds indicating that they were killed before being thrown into the cenote. The dredging yielded numerous precious artifacts made of gold, turquoise and jade, as well as human remains. Long rumored to have been the site of human sacrifice, the cenote was dredged in the early 1900s. A large cenote (sacred well or spring) located at the northern end of Chichen Itza has immense ceremonial and archaeological significance.
