Sweat baths--enclosed chambers heated with rocks--were and are a construction built by many societies in Mesoamerica and in fact, most of the world. They were used for hygiene and curing and are sometimes associated with the ball courts. The basic design includes a sweating room, an oven, ventilation openings, flues, and drains. Maya words for sweat bath include kun (oven), pibna "house for steaming", and chitin "oven".
This sweat bath is a Toltec addition to Chichén Itzá, and the whole structure consists of a small portico with benches, a steam room with a lower roof and two low benches where bathers could rest. In the rear of the structure was an oven in which the stones were heated. A walk separated the passageway from where heated rocks were placed and water thrown on them to produce the required steam. A small canal was built beneath the floor to assure proper drainage; and in the walls of the room are two small ventilation openings.
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