Chichen Itza White and Dark Skinned Murals

Location:  Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza (chee-chen eet-zah), Yucatan

Description:  In the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza, there are multiple paintings depicting both white and dark skinned people.  In the Book of Mormon, Lehi’s family travels to the new land as a white skinned people (Israelites).  Later, a portion of Lehi’s descendants (the Lamanites) have their skin changed dark after disobeying the Lord.  Therefore, these paintings strongly support the Book of Mormon story, rather than the idea of a single skin colored native population in ancient Central America.

The photo below of a Temple of the Warriors painting shows white skinned people rowing each of the 3 boats, while others in the boats have a dark skin color.  The people on the shore (there are many) are white skinned with the exception of two people in the structure on the right.  It is obvious that this difference in skin color was intended by the painter.  Photo copyright © Church of Christ (Temple Lot) Board of Publications, used with permission.