What is a chacmool?

Dr. dig responds:

A chacmool is a Mesoamerican sculpture of a reclining figure holding a bowl on his lap or stomach. Perhaps the best known chacmool sculpture is the one located at the top of the steps in front of the Temple of the Warriors at Chichén Itzá. The statue was given its name by the 19th-century French archaeologist Auguste Le Plongeon.

It is not entirely clear whom these figures represent. They could represent the Mayan rain god 'Chac'; they could also symbolize the color red (another meaning for 'chac'); or they could represent captive nobles.

More than twelve reclining chacmool sculptures are known at Chichén Itzá, and similar figures occur at Tula.

Some argue that the bowls they hold are meant to hold the heart and the blood of people sacrificed to the gods of rain and agriculture.