El Castillo, Chichen Itza, Mexico

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Listen to the distorted echoes immediately after each handclap: they sound rather like a chirping bird.

El Castillo Chichen Itza Mexico[1]

The Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen-Itza, known as “El Castillo” (the castle), is one of the seven new wonders of the world. It’s arguably the most spectacular and most frequently visited Mayan site in Mexico. If you stand at the bottom of the steps and clap your hands you get this incredible chirping sound. Echoes off buildings are common, but not ones that distort sound like this pyramid. Whether the pyramid was constructed to deliberately make this noise, or it happened by chance, is still a matter of debate among scientists and archaeologists. Reflections from the treads of the staircase are responsible for the echo being altered. The reason that a chirp like a bird is produced is because of geometry. The time between later reflections is longer than early reflections causing the frequency of the echo to rapidly drop by about an octave.

There is another sound effect here, but unfortunately as people are no longer allowed to climb the steps it’s hard to experience. Apparently, if you sit at the bottom of the stairs the sound of footsteps from people above you is like raindrops falling into a water-filled bucket rather than footsteps. The effect is caused by sound skimming the surface of the staircase. The sound reflects off the regular pattern of the stairs, creating a very distinctive effect [2].

Other acoustic phenomena

The Great Ballcourt is a huge semi-enclosed areas. If you clap your hands, the sound repeats a dozen times (this is a flutter echo) [3]. This is demonstrated in the second video above. Also a whisper carries a huge distance if you speak from one of the raised areas [3].

Location and logistics

map. Various tour operators offer day trips.

Sources and credits

References, photo and sound credits