La Plataforma de las Águilas y los Jaguares (The Platform of Eagles and Jaguars, was likely used religious and ceremonial purposes with a special emphasis about military superiority. The small square platform has a staircase on each of the four sides, with balustrades topped with an ascending plumed serpent God Kukulcán. On the walls of the structure are prostrate human figures. Below them are Eagles and Jaguars gruesomely grasping human hearts. Chichén Itzá, a large Pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classical period in the Northern Maya Lowlands, is one of the most visited archaeological sites of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. A religious, military, political, and commercial centre, at its peak, it is thought to have home to 35,000 people. The site has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. The city, centered around two cenotes (chi meaning "mouths" and chen meaning "wells"), was initially during the 6th century. An influx of foreign influence during the 10th century--perhaps through a conquering people, or a migration--particularly by the Toltec of Central Mexico, led to the construction of the major buildings on the site--El Castillo, the 24-mneter tall pyramid Temple of Kukulcán; the ball court, and Temple of Warriors and Group of a Thousand Columns--probably during the Early Post Classic Period (c. 900-1200). In the Late Classic Period (1200-1540), Chichén appears to have been eclipsed by the rise of the city of Mayapán and the city was left to the jungle when the Spanish conquered in the 16th century. Excavation began in the 19th century, and the site became one of Mexico’s prime archaeological zones.