Before the Florescence

Abstract

AbstractThe period preceding the Terminal Classic florescence in the Puuc region of Yucatan, Mexico has not received adequate research attention. Recent comprehensive site survey and excavation at Chac II (Chac) are exploring Puuc origins and have begun to redress the lack of chronological understanding regarding the region by independently linking architectural styles to ceramic sequences via a program of absolute dating. Results to date suggest that Chac was a significant Early Classic center (a.d.300–600) that also experienced a major Late Classic (a.d.600–800) occupation. Multiple lines of chronological evidence, including buildings with a mix of early architectural styles and associated pre-Cehpech and Cehpech ceramics (a.d.800–1000) within sealed architectural and stratigraphic contexts, suggest a period of architectural transition and the antecedents of Cehpech ceramics dating to the sixth century. These new chronological data and associated evidence for foreign contacts perhaps reaching to central Mexico argue for the assignment of a Middle Classic period (a.d.500–700) to the region, with broad evolutionary implications for Puuc origins and pan-Mesoamerican contacts.