Puuc is the name of a region in the Mexican state of Yucatán as well as a maya architectural style prevalent in that region. Yucatán is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The word "puuc" is derived from the Maya term for "hill". Since the Yucatán is relatively flat, this term was extended to encompass the large karstic range of hills in the southern portion of the state, hence, the terms Puuc region or Puuc hills. Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble Bedrock, usually Carbonate rock such as Limestone The Puuc hills extend into northern Campeche and western Quintana Roo. Campeche is the name of both a state in Mexico and its capital city Quintana Roo (kinˈtana ˈro is a state of Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula.
The term Puuc is also used to designate the architectural style of ancient Maya sites located within the Puuc hills, hence, the term Puuc Architecture. Mesoamerican architecture is the set of architectural traditions produced by Pre-Columbian cultures and civilizations of Mesoamerica, traditions which are This architectural style began at the end of the Late Classic period but experienced its greatest extent during the Terminal Classic period. Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into a number of named successive eras or periods from the earliest evidence of human habitation Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into a number of named successive eras or periods from the earliest evidence of human habitation
Puuc architecture
In the florescence of Puuc architecture (such as at the ancient Maya site of Uxmal) buildings were decorated with carefully cut veneer stones set into a concrete core. The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican Civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the Pre-Columbian Americas Uxmal ( Yucatec Maya: Óoxmáal is a large Pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag The lower portion of the façades are blank with a flat surface of rectangular blocks punctuated by doorways, while the upper façade is richly decorated with intricate stone mosaics, often alternating repeated geometric elements with more elaborate figurative sculpture. A facade or façade (fəˈsɑːd is generally one side of the exterior of a Building, especially the front but also sometimes the sides and rear Art History Mosaics of the 4th century BC are found in the Macedonian palace-city of Aegae, and they enriched the floors of Hellenistic Long-nosed masks (commonly believed to be of the Maya rain god Chaac) are found on many Puuc buildings. Chaac (also rendered as Chaak or Chac) is the originally Yucatec name of the Maya rain deity
Beyond the impressive decorative elements of Puuc architecture, the use of a concrete core is also considered an architectural advance beyond the earlier Maya technique of using larger stones (set on top of one another in lime and mud mortar) for structural support. The concrete core-veneer masonry allowed for slightly larger and more stable interior rooms. Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar, and the term "masonry" can also refer to the units themselves Many corbelled vaults in the Puuc style remain standing, even when most of the veneer stones have fallen away. Use in historical cultures Maya civilization MykeneTreasureof
The most famous of the Maya sites exhibiting the Puuc architectural style is Uxmal; other major Puuc-style sites in the region include Labna, Kabah, and Sayil. This List of Maya sites is an alphabetical listing of a number of significant Archaeological sites associated with the Maya civilization of Pre-Columbian Uxmal ( Yucatec Maya: Óoxmáal is a large Pre-Columbian ruined city of the Maya civilization in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. Labná by Catherwoodjpg|thumb|250px|Gateway at Labna (also known as Labna Vault as drawn by Frederick Catherwood. 20021229_18_Codz_Poop_Kabah_Yucatan_Mexicojpg|thumb|230px|right|Codz Poop - Temple of the Masks (Detail]] Kabah (also spelled Kabaah, Kabáh, Kahbah Sayil is a Maya Archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán, in the southwest of the state south of Uxmal. The architectural style is also seen at Kiuic, Bolonchen, Chunhuhub, Xculoc, and many smaller ruins. Bolonchen or Bolonchen de Rejón ( Bolon Che'e'en in Modern Maya) is a town in the Mexican state of Campeche, about 120 km The transition from earlier Classic Period architecture to Puuc style core-veneer masonry is well documented at the site of Oxkintok. Oxkintok is a Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site on the Yucatán Peninsula, located at the northern tip of the Puuc hills - a few kilometers To the south, the style can be found in Edzná; and to the east at Chichen Itza (outside of the Puuc Hills region). Edzná is a Maya Archaeological site in the north of the Mexican state of Campeche. Chichen Itza (tʃiːˈtʃɛn iːˈtsɑː from Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha' "At the mouth of the well of the Itza " is a
References
- Andrews, George F. (1999) Pyramids, Palaces, Monsters and Masks: The Golden Age of Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos Press, Culvert City.
- Carmean, Kelli, Nicholas Dunning and Jeff K. Kowalski. 2004 High times in the hill country: a perspective from the Terminal Classic Puuc region. In, The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation. Arthur A. Demarest, Prudence M. Rice, and Don S. Rice, eds. pp. 424-449. University Press of Colorado, Boulder
- Dunning, Nicholas P. 1992 Lords of the Hills: Ancient Maya Settlement in the Puuc Region, Yucatán, Mexico. Centre d'Etudes Mexicaines et Centraméricaines, Mexico.
- Dunning, Nicholas P. and Jeff K. Kowalski. 1994 Lord of the Hills: Classic Maya settlement patterns and political iconography in the Puuc Region, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 5(1):63-95. Cambridge, England
- Gendrop, Paul 1998 Rio Bec, Chenes, and Puuc Styles in Maya Architecture. Labyrinthos. 239 p. , Culver City
- Mills, Lawrence, (ed. ) 1979 The Puuc: New Perspectives: Papers Presented at the Puuc Symposium, Central College, May, 1977. Central College Press, Pella, IA
- Pollock, Harry E. D. 1980 Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan and Northern Campeche, Mexico. Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Cambridge, MA
- Prem, Hanns J. (ed. ) 1994 Hidden Among the Hills: Maya Archaeology of the Northwest Yucatan Península. Hanns J. Prem, ed. pp. 247-288 Acta Mesoamericana, 7. Verlag von Flemming, Möckmühl
- Sabloff, Jeremy A. and Gair Tourtellot. 1991 Ancient Maya City of Sayil: The Mapping of a Puuc Region Center. Publication, 60, Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans.
- Tourtellot, Gair. 2001 "Puuc", in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures: The Civilizations of Mexico and Central America. Davíd Carrasco, ed. v. 3. pp. 42-43. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.
External links
- (Spanish) From the online newspaper Diario de Yucatan
- Photo tours of Maya sites, including several from the Puuc region.
- Academic report on the recent archaeological survey between the Puuc sites of Labna and Kiuic.
Puuc web site at Reed College. Over a thousand 19th - 21st century photographs of Puuc sites. http://academic.reed.edu/uxmal/
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