Chac Mool

sculpture

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Last updated

June 24, 2026

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A Chac Mool is a type of sculpture originating from prehistoric Mexico and Central America, particularly the Yucatán region. These sculptures depict a reclining figure with flexed knees. The name "Chac Mool" is derived from the Maya word Chac, referring to a god, and mool, meaning paw.1

Chac was a significant Mayan god of rain, especially revered in the Yucatán. He was often depicted with distinct features like fangs, large eyes, and a nose resembling a proboscis. In later periods, particularly at Chichén Itzá, Chac was associated with human sacrifice, and individuals assisting in these rituals were also called chacs. The reclining figures known as Chac Mools are believed to represent this rain god in post-Classic Mayan and Toltec ruins.2

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Henry Moore
Travel and further artistic influences
…plaster cast of a limestone Chac Mool—a Mayan representation of the rain spirit, depicted as a male reclining figure with its knees drawn up together, its staring head at a right angle to its body, and its hands holding on its stomach a flat dish for sacrifices. Moore became fascinated…
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…plaster cast of a limestone Chac Mool—a Mayan representation of the rain spirit, depicted as a male reclining figure with its knees drawn up together, its staring head at a right angle to its body, and its hands holding on its stomach a flat dish for sacrifices. Moore became fascinated…
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Toltec
…animal standard-bearers, and peculiar reclining Chac Mool figures. Beginning in the 12th century, the invasion of the nomadic Chichimec destroyed the Toltec hegemony in central Mexico. Among the invaders were the Aztecs, or Mexica, who destroyed Tollan about the mid-12th century. See also Mesoamerican civilization.
Read More
…animal standard-bearers, and peculiar reclining Chac Mool figures. Beginning in the 12th century, the invasion of the nomadic Chichimec destroyed the Toltec hegemony in central Mexico. Among the invaders were the Aztecs, or Mexica, who destroyed Tollan about the mid-12th century. See also Mesoamerican civilization.
Read More