Maya culture has a long and rich history, beginning in the Preclassic period, around 1800 BC, and continuing into the present. However, when did the Maya become a distinctly recognizable culture group and what features defined early Maya culture? Between 900 and 700 BC, there were distinct areas of settlement in the Maya region, each with unique cultural characteristics. Lacking homogeneity, these groups are considered pre-Maya. However, one of these groups living in the Central Karstic Uplands experienced early and significant population growth and a concomitant cultural florescence. The inhabitants of this area appear to have influenced the development of a unified “Maya” culture.
During the Middle Preclassic period (900-300 BC), the Central Karst Altiplano was the heartland for of a uniquely Maya way-of-life, and the site of Nakb’e was an important hub during this time. Its precocious evolution overshadowed other contemporary cities and there is no doubt that it had a centralized government and a stratified society. Nakb’e declined dramatically at 400 BC with the rise of El Mirador located 13 km to the north. El Mirador, the largest known Maya city, was widely influential throughout the Maya lowlands. It established the first state level society in the lowlands, although the extent of its hegemony is unknown. Nevertheless, its explosive growth was detrimental to nearby cities, like Nakb’e.
Other unexplored early settlements, located north of Nakb’e and El Mirador, also contributed to the early cultural florescence in this region. One site in particular, Yaxnohcah, appears to have rivaled Nakb’e in its early occupation and large population. Yaxnohcah is located in the Mexican state of Campeche, approximately 26 km north east of El Mirador Discovered in 2004 by Ivan Spracj, six massive regal/ritual building complexes and two large elite residential compounds have been identified at Yaxnohcah. The principle building within each ceremonial group is at least 25 m in height and, at minimum, 50 x 50 m at the base. Structure A-1, the largest building at the site is approximately 43 m in height and 100 x 100 m at the base. Moreover, the public architecture is dispersed across the landscape, covering almost 12 km2. Based on the ceramics recovered by Spracj, Yaxnohcah is estimated to date from 900 BC to AD 800. However, the mass and the triadic style of the major buildings are typical features of the Middle and Late Preclassic (900 BC - AD 150) and suggest that most of the construction dates to those periods. Indeed, the volume of the public architecture and the area of the site make Yaxnohcah one of the largest Preclassic center in the Maya lowlands.
Because of its early apogee, Yaxnohcah is ideally suited to investigate questions regarding the origins of Maya civilization.
- Why did the early inhabitants of the lowlands settle in the Central Karstic Uplands and what caused the development of such large settlements in the Middle Preclassic? Were the surrounding wetlands instrumental in this early development?
- What was the relationship between Yaxnohcah in the Central Karstic Uplands and the contemporaneous settlements to the south and north, especially during the Middle Preclassic?
- Was Yaxnohcah politically and economically autonomous during the Late Preclassic? Did an independent kingdom arise or did El Mirador maintain hegemony over a large geographic area that included Yaxnohcah?
- Yaxnohcah appears to have weathered the Late Preclassic to Early Classic transition, much like Naachtun, located 11 kms to the south. Why did certain sites in the Central Karst Altiplano, such as El Mirador, fall and others, like Yaxnohcah and Naachtun, thrive during this period?