1. Ancient Civilizations of the Americas Lecture 15
The Rio Bec Sites

2. 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.

4. Kohunlich: Early Classic

5. Surviving plaster in a building

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

7. The principle site of this region is Becán
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 It was repaired between AD 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.

9. Becán Moat

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

11. Entrance to the Becán acropolis though a corbelled tunnel

12. Structure VIII

13. Structure X

14. Masks on top of Structure X

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

16. Temple built in “Chenes” style Structure XX

17. Structure II