Ancient Civilizations of the Americas Lecture 15

The Rio Bec Sites

Ancient Civilizations of the Americas Lecture 15

The Rio Bec Sites

The region is called Rio Bec after a site of the same name. It is also called the Chenes region.

In linguistic terms this region constitutes a transitional zone between the Yucatec and Chol languages.

Kohunlich: Early Classic

Surviving plaster in a building

Templo de los Mascarones/ Temple of the Masks Date: 500 AD

The principle site of this region is Becán. First settled in the 6th century BC. It covers 46 acres. The name was given to the site by archaeologists and means moat.

A massive enclosure ditch was mapped in 1934 by the Carnegie Institution. This was excavated by David Webster in 1970, and found to date to AD 150-250. It was repaired between AD 450-600. A large building was destroyed, people were massacred, and elite compounds were abandoned at the same time.

Becán and the other Rio Bec sites are notable in that so far no inscriptions or royal tombs have been found.

Agricultural intensification has been noted in the form of terracing of the surrounding hills.

Becán Moat

Most surviving buildings at Becan and Chicanná are Late Classic (600-730 AD).

Entrance to the Becán acropolis though a corbelled tunnel

Structure VIII

Structure X

Masks on top of Structure X

Chicanná “House of the Serpent Mouth” 300-1100 AD

Temple built in “Chenes” styleStructure XX

Structure II