The Central Zone of the southern Maya lowlands is the area of Forsyth’s “Eastern (sub-)supercomplex,” the home of the Eznab ceramic sphere. It was here—essentially the area of northeastern Peten, Guatemala—that the ceramic markers of the Terminal Classic were first defined, initially at Uaxactun and later at Tikal. Data of varying utility have subsequently become available from Calakmul, the Peten lakes region, and the El Mirador basin. This entire region manifests considerable continuity in its ceramic inventory from Late Classic through Terminal Classic times.
As originally understood, the transition from Tepeu 2 to Tepeu 3 in what might be thought of as the “central Central Zone,” that is, the area of Tikal and Uaxactun, was characterized primarily by: (1) the disappearance or diminution of the polychrome tradition, both in terms of quantity and quality, especially human-figure polychromes; (2) the occurrence of small amounts of Altar Group Fine Orange (and some Fine Gray) pottery, or its local imitations; and (3) the addition of some new forms in the continuing red monochrome (Tinaja ceramic group) tradition that mimic those of some of the new fine paste ware forms (Smith 1955: Fig. 50a 10-13, b; Culbert 1973c: Fig. 13). Note, however, that the Tepeu 3 complex at Uaxactun was initially defined as a residuum, essentially the leftovers after Tepeu 1 and 2 materials were separated out (Smith 1955: 161).
Around the central Peten lake chain, south and east of Tikal/Uaxactiin, Terminal Classic complexes are difficult to characterize. One reason is that they differ from Late Classic complexes primarily by a decline in the quality and quantity of the polychromes; also, fine paste wares and local imitations of fine paste shapes are quite rare. Another reason is that Terminal Classic complexes exhibit localized and also east-west clinal variability. For example. Terminal Classic pottery at Yaxha and Topoxte, in the easternmost lake basins, is very similar to that of the Tikal/Uaxactiin Eznab sphere, and Yaxha’s Tolobojo ceramic complex is a full member of the Eznab ceramic sphere (see Rice 1979; Hermes and Noriega 1998). Moving westward through the lakes zone, however, sites are only peripheral members of the Eznab sphere, as there is increasing presence of Boca sphere diagnostics characteristic of the Pasion region to the southwest (see below). These diagnostics include the types Subm Red, Chaquiste Impressed, and Pantano Impressed, and the ubiquitous large, incurved-rim bowl form that continues into the Postclassic. Also, around Lake Peten Itza, polychromes are replaced by greatly reduced numbers of less elaborate polychromes, such as Lombriz Orange-polychrome (Adams 1971: 39; Chase and Chase 1983: 99; Eorsyth, personal observation), while in the middle of the lake chain Jato Black-on-gray is particularly notable as funerary furniture (Rice 1987c).
Although it is often difficult to separate Late and Terminal Classic complexes in the lakes area, it also has proven difficult to separate Terminal Classic from Early Postclassic complexes at sites like Ixlu and Zacpeten. This is because the distinctive clays used for manufacturing Postclassic Paxcaman-group pottery— fine, silty, organic, lacustrine clays with snail inclusions—were used with Tinaja-like forms and slips, and frequently were tempered with volcanic ash, typical of Late Classic technology (Rice, personal observation). All this is suggestive of significant Classic to Postclassic continuities in the lakes area, in contrast to what was believed at the time of the 1965 Maya ceramic conference.
The site of Calakmul, lying on the northern edge of the Central Zone, had significant occupations during both Tepeu 2 and Tepeu 3 times. Ceramically, the site exhibits strong relations with those of the Central Zone, although sharing features with Rio Bee and particularly the El Mirador basin in Calakmufs Late Classic Ku complex. In the Terminal Classic Halibe complex, the introduction of small quantities of slate ware suggests intensified interaction with the northern lowlands. However southern and western monochrome types (Subm, Chaquiste, Cameron) also make their appearance, as do small quantities of Fine Orange, Fine Gray, and imitations of these wares in the local monochromes. Calakmul is a full member of the Eznab sphere, with less than 1 to 2.1 percent of the complex representing pottery from areas other than Peten (Braswell et al.. Chapter 9, this volume). As they note. Late Classic Calakmul participated in an “essentially Peten-focused interaction sphere,” an intriguing observation given the wealth of epigraphic data interpreted as highlighting intense warfare between that site and Tikal.
In the northern portion of the Central Zone, the El Mirador basin so far has yielded no evidence of a significant Terminal Classic occupation, but the Tepeu 2 and very rare Tepeu 3 examples recovered (Forsyth 1989: 119ff) are more like those of the Tikal/Uaxactun area.
East of the Mirador Basin, at Ri'o Azul, the Late Classic to Terminal Classic transition was apparently one of considerable change (Adams and Jackson-Adams 2000: 270). As at other Central Zone sites, it was marked by the appearance of small amounts of Fine Orange pottery, Tres Naciones group Fine Gray ware, and imitation Fine Orange. In addition, small amounts of Puuc Slate Ware and vessels influenced by northern lowlands styles also occurred. Many of the monochrome and unslipped types continued, however, sometimes in new varieties. Rio Azul differs from other sites, nevertheless, in maintaining a strong polychrome production during the Terminal Classic, albeit with somewhat different varieties and styles from those of the Tepeu 2 horizon.
Belize Zone
Sites along the upper Belize River and some its tributaries have the longest history of ceramic research, although the data are of varying quality and comprehensiveness. The site of Benque Viejo, now known as Xunantunich, was excavated in the 1930s and reported by J. Eric S. Thompson (1940a), who analyzed the pottery by ware/form classification. William Bullard (1965) described only the whole or partial vessels from Baking Pot, but provided the type names and related information for Barton Ramie (see also Ricketson 1929) for the final type-variety analysis by James Gifford (1976). Ceramics from the Mopan-Macal Triangle Project, as well as the recent Xunantunich investigations, have been reported primarily in summary form (Ball 1993b: 255; LeCount 1992). At the site of Naranjo, across the border with Guatemala to the west, Marcus’s collections suggest that the site shares numerous diagnostic types with the Belize Valley (Forsyth 1980: 75-79, 81).
The Belize Valley area is generally seen as highly diverse ceramically, differing typologically and modally from other southern lowland areas. By early Late Classic (Tiger Run = Tepeu 1) times, the ceramic inventory was distinct from other nearby areas, linked to Peten primarily by its polychromes. After about a. d. 700 west-central Belize had its own ceramic sphere, Spanish Lookout (Gifford 1976;
Ball 1976: 328), with the Spanish Lookout complex having early and late facets. The Terminal Classic period, represented by late-facet Spanish Lookout, is marked by the disappearance or marked reduction in locally produced polychromes and ash-tempered wares. In fact, most forms of decoration on vessel surfaces, common in the Late Classic, virtually disappear. Monochrome types of the carbonate-tempered Vaca Falls ceramic group. Roaring Creek Red and Mount Maloney Black (especially incurved-rim basins), characterize this late facet (Willey et al. 1965: 373; LeCount 1992: 135-136). The substantial problems in the published report of Barton Ramie ceramics—including the fact that Belize Red, the red-slipped ash-tempered group of the upper Belize Valley, is typologically and technologically identical to Tinaja Red in Peten—force us to question the existence of a distinct Spanish Lookout sphere and wonder whether these materials would be better considered peripheral Tepeu/Eznab. Regardless, the succeeding New Town (Early Postclassic) ceramic complex (Sharer and Chase 1976) in the Belize Valley, with the predominance of the red-slipped, carbonate-tempered Augustine ceramic group, constitutes a significant break with the previous complex, whatever its sphere affiliation.
At the large site of Caracol, south of the Belize Valley, it is difficult to know how to situate ceramics of the site’s final Terminal Classic occupation. Most of the published pottery is from special deposits, primarily caches and mortuary contexts, and largely lacks type-variety classification and sphere identification (A. Chase 1994). The Late Classic ceramic assemblage, basically in place by a. d. 537, represents a “profound change” from the Early Classic complex. It appears to have strong ties to Tepeu, with “Holmul-style” red-on-cream polychromes, Belize/Tinaja Red, and other Peten gloss ware components (A. Chase 1994: 170). The most diagnostic Terminal Classic form is a small tripod bowl with in-slanting rim and oven-shaped feet, a form also present in the Eznab sphere in Tinaja/Belize Red type. Molded-carved decoration is known from both true Fine Orange and its imitations; cylindrical vessels typically show prisoner-presentation scenes (ibid.: 173). Unslipped wares occur in the same forms as those in central Peten (ibid.: 175).
In far southern Belize, the site of Lubaantun was occupied during the Late and Terminal Classic, roughly a. d. 700-890. Hammond (1975: 296) sees a “basic unity” in the pottery of the site and identified it as the Columbia ceramic complex, with early and late facets. The early facet is affiliated with the Tepeu sphere of central Peten and is characterized by the presence of gloss wares and cream-based polychromes, plus ash-tempered Belize/Tinaja Red. The late facet is primarily affiliated with the Boca sphere of the Pasion zone, but also has “strong links” with Eznab; it is characterized by the presence of Altar Fine Orange and reduced quantities of polychromes.
To the north of the Belize River, the San Jose/Lamanai region constitutes another ceramic subregion, more closely related to the Spanish Lookout sphere, perhaps.
Than to Tepeu, but probably still distinct from it (Graham 1987b; Thompson 1939). San Jose V differs from the preceding Tepeu 2-related San Jose IV complex by the virtual disappearance of polychromes and changes in vessel forms in red ware ceramics (see Graham 1987b: Fig. 2; Thompson 1939: Fig. 93), and by the addition of vessel forms and decorative techniques in local pottery that duplicate or are reminiscent of Fine Orange/Fine Gray pottery (Thompson 1939: Figs. 79a, 80b, 83-84). At Lamanai the Terminal Classic ceramic complex continues uninterrupted into the Early Postclassic (Graham 1987b; Pendergast 1985: 95).
In the far northern portion of Belize, the ceramic situation is complex as two, perhaps overlapping, patterns apparently occur here (D. Chase 1985b: 123). The northernmost of these, best known from Santa Rita Corozal and Nohmul, constitutes a significant change in the ceramic inventory (Chase 1987: 68) as evidenced by new ceramic complexes that extend into the Early Postclassic. That is, the major break seems to be between the Late Classic and the Terminal Classic periods in this region. Ceramically it is marked by distinctive regional ceramics—for example, the double-mouthed jar (Sidrys and Krowne 1983)—and by the appreciable occurrence of slate wares and trickle decoration related to the northern lowlands.
A very different situation seems to mark the region around Colha. There the Late Classic to Terminal Classic Masson complex ceramics seem to fit fairly strongly into the Tepeu sphere and link the region more closely to Peten than to any other Belize site (Valdez 1987: 249-251). Few ceramic markers appear to separate the Terminal Classic from Late Classic: much of northern Belize seems to lack Fine Orange/Gray pottery, although some slate ware vessels seemingly occur. Unlike the situation farther north, there is a dramatic break at the end of the Classic, with a completely new complex replacing the Masson complex after, perhaps, an interval of abandonment. Thus Colha seems to have experienced a set of cultural processes more similar to those in parts of Peten.
At La Milpa it is likewise difficult to separate the Terminal Classic from the Late Classic ceramically, and the strength of the Terminal Classic occupation is not clear (Kosakowsky et al. 1998: 661). Apparently both Fine Orange ware and northern slate wares show up in small quantities; however, unlike Colha, La Milpa is more closely tied to the Belize region than to Peten during this period.
Southeastern Zone
Except for the site of Copan (Longyear 1952; Viel 1993a, 1993b), the Southeastern Zone is not well reported ceramically. Nevertheless, Copan’s Terminal Classic and its aftermath are still a matter of some dispute. According to Rene Viel (1993b: 141), the Coner phase marks the Tepeu 2 equivalent at Copan as well as the apogee of the site. Although typical Maya gloss polychromes are not common here, distinctive Copador polychromes are found over a wide area of western El Salvador and parts of Honduras along with Surlo group pottery, decorated primarily by surface penetration, and these constitute the Coner fine wares. A few Ulua-Yojoa polychromes appear as imports.
In one view, the end of the Coner phase marks the “collapse” of elite activity at Copan. In fact, Viel suggests a final phase of Coner “characterized by the decadence of the ceremonial pottery and by the presence of fine paste [pottery] similar to that in Tepeu 3 [Fine Orange] after the fall of the hierarchical order” (Viel 1993b: 142).Fash and Manahan (1997) have expressed an essentially similar viewpoint, with Viel’s Ejar phase representing a Postclassic occupation characterized by dramatic changes in ceramics, lithics, and settlement. They argue for an abandonment of the Acropolis at the end of the Coner phase, and a Postclassic Ejar phase reoccupation. Webster and others, however, argue that Coner phase ceramics continue on, minus the fine wares and with the addition of some Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic ceramics, for three or four more centuries after the collapse of elite culture (see Webster, Freter, and Storey, Chapter 11, this volume). This continuation model would seem to imply that the manufacturing and distribution systems of Coner-phase ceramics for fine and ordinary wares were distinct. That is, when the fine pottery ceased to be made, the production of utilitarian pottery continued. Regardless of how the debate is resolved, there does seem to be agreement that the Terminal Classic is marked by a decline in fine wares and the import in small amounts of Fine Orange and other tradewares such as Nicoya/Las Vegas polychromes and Tojil Plumbate.
Although there are as yet no comprehensive data on Quirigua pottery, it would appear that there is considerable ceramic continuity into the Terminal Classic. Nevertheless, the period is apparently marked by dramatic and significant changes in the fine ware pottery at the site, which Sharer (1985: 250; see also Schortman 1993: 174ff) attributes to a new elite group from outside the Southeastern Zone.
Slightly farther northeast, the Lake Izabal region appears to have participated in ceramic exchange with highland and lowland sites, meanwhile having its own distinctive ceramics (see Hermes 1981). At many sites the Late and Terminal Classic Manatf ceramic complex (a. d. 650-950) represents a reoccupation after Early Classic abandonment. Some sites in the lake basin have yielded examples of Peten gloss wares and/or imitations of Tina] a Red, leading to a peripheral Tepeu sphere assignment, but the major affinities are with ceramics of Verapaz (Hermes 1981: 113, 116, 118). Small quantities of imitation Pabellon Molded-Carved are also evident in the area, testifying to occupation into the Terminal Classic period.
Pasion and Usumacinta Zones
The Pasion and Usumacinta Zones, named after the major rivers on the western and southwestern borders of Peten, constitute Forsyth’s (1997, 1999) Western ceramic sub - or supercomplex in the Terminal Classic. During the Late Classic period, sites in this region were closely linked to the Tepeu sphere in the Central Zone, although they exhibit some regional characteristics that differentiate them from that zone. In the southwest, the Subm, Chaquiste, and Pantano variants of the red Tinaja group are overwhelmingly dominant.
Terminal Classic pottery in the PasionAJsumacinta Zones is markedly distinct from that of central Peten and is identified as the Boca sphere (after the complex from Altar de Sacrificios; Adams 1971). Boca sphere complexes are marked at most sites by the same widespread diminution of polychrome wares that is seen elsewhere. But Terminal Classic Boca complexes differ significantly from those of other zones by the appearance of considerable quantities of fine wares, specifically Fine Orange and Fine Gray (Sabloff 1975: Figs. 370-423; Adams 1971: Figs. 66-73; Foias 1996: Figs. 6.85-6.89) as well as local imitations in non-fine pastes. All these have stylistic and typological ties to pottery from the Middle/ Lower Usumacinta River area. This pattern may extend as far north as Yaxchilan in the Usumacinta area (Lopez 1989), but is only well documented in the northwestern Pasion region. At Altar de Sacrificios, Terminal Classic Boca sphere pottery was followed by fine wares of the Early Postclassic Jimba complex (Adams 1971).
Because of the importance of fine paste wares and their imitations in Terminal Classic ceramic sequences, it is useful to give more attention to their manufacture and occurrence. These wares usually occur with untempered orange or gray pastes, apparently representing variations in the firing atmosphere. Provenience studies of these fine paste wares through neutron activation analyses have revealed two general zones of fine ware manufacture (Sabloff et al. 1982; Bishop 1994: 20-24; Foias and Bishop 1994). Wares found in the upper Usumacinta River Valley were produced within the zone, and therefore do not represent imports to the region. Fine paste wares recovered from sites in the lower Usumacinta valley to the north were likewise manufactured locally. Patterns by which these fine paste wares came to be introduced into southern lowland assemblages are not well understood and seem to vary considerably. One distinct class of fine paste pottery, the Chablekal group (a Fine Gray variant), appears to have been introduced into Piedras Negras and the Petexbatun region toward the end of the Late Classic (Holley 1983; Foias 1993, 1996: 429, 967). Later Fine Gray of the Tres Naciones ceramic group and Fine Orange of the Altar and Balancan ceramic groups only appear during the Terminal Classic, where they postdate the collapse of the Petexbatun system (Foias 1996: 626ff).
To the east of the Pasion, in the Dolores area in the upper Mopan River Valley, ceramics of the Fine Orange and Fine Gray groups occur in the Terminal Classic, but in very small quantities. The fact that any is present at all is somewhat surprising, as proximity to Belize might suggest that the area would be part of the Spanish Lookout sphere, but inscriptional evidence suggests broad dynastic and linguistic ties across southern Peten.
Although we do not as yet have comprehensive data, it appears that the ceramic pattern seen in the Pasion zone extends down the Usumacinta at least as far as Yaxchilan (Lopez 1989, 2000). Similar to other known Pasion/Petexbatun sites during the Late Classic, the Terminal Classic Yaxmuc complex exhibited the heavy influx of Altar Group Fine Orange and Tres Naciones group Fine Gray pottery, in a manner analogous to Altar de Sacrificios and Seibal. Although the exact nature of the Yaxmuc complex is not yet entirely clear (see Foias 1996: 631-632), the quantities of Terminal Classic fine paste wares are large, indicating that Yachilan was participating in the same pattern of ceramic production and use as the better-known Pasion sites to the south.
Farther north, the site of Piedras Negras in the far northwest comer of Peten constitutes a distinct ceramic zone from the area farther upriver and also from the general Peten region, as it was only marginally related to the Late Classic Tepeu sphere (Holley 1983; Forsyth et al. 1998; Forsyth 1997). Holley’s (1983) interpretation of the 1930s evidence correlates the collapse of the site with the introduction of Chablekal group Fine Gray ceramics at the end of the Late Classic or beginning of the Terminal Classic. The Fine Orange and Tres Naciones complexes, so common at Altar and Seibal, were only weakly represented at Piedras Negras, introduced well after the site collapsed. The 1997 and 1998 field seasons at Piedras Negras, under the direction of Stephen Houston and Hector Escobedo, have recovered only scattered amounts of Chablekal Fine Gray pottery and virtually no Fine Orange or Tres Naciones (Forsyth, personal observation, 1997; Rene Munoz, personal communication, 1998). Holley’s view may well be correct, but needs further corroboration.
All in all, the Terminal Classic in the Pasion/Usumacinta Zones seems to present a complicated pattern of ceramic and cultural change. In some cases the later fine paste ceramics seem to represent a squatter settlement of no great extent (Piedras Negras) or a remnant, holdout community (Punta de Chimino; Foias 1996: 626ff). In others it seems to be an add-on to the normal range of Late Classic ceramics (Seibal [see also Tourtellot and Gonzalez, Chapter 4, this volume]; the Petexbatun); and if the Yaxchilan data are as they have been reported, then a complete replacement takes place there with little or no overlap at all. The Altar de Sacrificios example is more equivocal. Adams (1971: 162) argued for a complete replacement model like that described by Lopez (1989) but others have questioned this conclusion (Sabloff 1973: 121-122; Demarest, personal communication, 2000), suggesting instead that the Altar situation was more similar to the pattern at Seibal. But given the fact that the only comprehensive data we have bearing on this issue from the whole region is from the Pasion/Petexbatun (Foias 1993, 1996; Foias and Bishop 1994), it may be unwise to make too much of these discrepancies until we have more secure data from the area downriver from the Pasion zone.
Western Zones
Apart from the upper Usumacinta/Pasion area, most of the western region of the Maya lowlands along the middle and lower Usumacinta River is very poorly known ceramically but appears to constitute a number of small distinct spheres.
For purposes of discussion here, we separate the Western Zone into two parts, southwestern and northwestern.
In the southwestern Western Zone, only Tonina has been reported in detail (Becquelin and Baudez 1979), although a ceramic report has been prepared for Chinkultic (Ball 1980). During the Late Classic, Tonina probably constituted its own ceramic sphere, but with important links to the Tepeu sphere (Becquelin and Baudez 1979: 218). Although polychromes were prominent in the Ocosingo Valley during the Late Classic (Becquelin and Baudez 1979), they are nonexistent at Chinkultic during this interval. As in the upper Usumacinta and Pasion Zones, small amounts of Chablekal Fine Gray occur as imports. The Terminal Classic is apparently a continuation of the Late Classic pattern with the addition of small amounts of Fine Orange and Fine Gray pottery of the Tres Naciones group. The ceramics of the Postclassic occupation, perhaps after a break in the sequence, are no longer related to the lowland Maya, but rather to the highlands of Chiapas.
At Chinkultic, which surely belongs to a distinct ceramic sphere, the reoccupation of the site, after a long break, oecurred during the Terminal Classic, around a. d. 700-900. Apparently the acropolis at Chinkultic was built during this period and the site came to prominence at this time. It would appear that the southwestern zone (including Tonina), like parts of the northern lowlands, underwent a period of growth at precisely the time that Peten and the Usumacinta region were experiencing considerable difficulty. Ceramically, the transition from Classic to Postclassic was marked by the appearance of some examples of Altar and Tres Naciones fine paste ceramics (Ball 1980: 95).
The northwestern Western Zone is also poorly investigated, with the exception of the site of Palenque. What information we do have suggests that, in comparison to the archaeological zones examined thus far, this region was highly heterogeneous ceramically, especially compared to the more homogeneous pattern of Peten.
Palenque represents a completely distinct ceramic sphere during the period under consideration and, in reality, throughout the whole ceramic sequence (Rands 1973b, 1974, 1987). Moreover, in contrast to the situation in Peten, Palenque was not part of a relatively widespread and uniform ceramic area. Rather, the area surrounding Palenque was highly diverse (Rands 1967a, 1987). Ceramically, the latest clearly Classic complex at Palenque (Balunte or, alternatively, early Balunte) is marked by the introduction of a subcomplex of buff/brown/gray paste wares, which includes Chablekal Fine Gray and local variants, alongside the earlier paste tradition. According to Rands (1973b: 192, 1974: 68, 1987: 230), evidence of elite activity and population decline dramatically by the end of this period. The Terminal Classic period (late Balunte or, sometimes, Huipale) is poorly represented and marked by very small quantities of Fine Orange ware. Thus, like Piedras Negras, Palenque would seem to have gone into decline before the substantial introduction of fine ware pottery. Whatever the causes of the site’s demise, it is clear that Palenque maintained its ceramic uniqueness until the end (Rands 1987).
Farther north in the flatlands of the lower Usumacinta River, the pottery from the Jonuta and Tecolpan region (Berlin 1956) is considerably different from that of Trinidad, upriver (Rands 1969, 1987), which, in turn, is different from both Piedras Negras (Holley 1983) and Palenque (Rands 1967a, 1967b, 1973b, 1974, 1987). Calatrava apparently is similar to the Jonuta-Tecolpan region (Rands 1967a: 130, 1987: 232), as is Tierra Blanca (Ochoa and Casasola 1978: 33, 38). All these complexes are marked by large quantities of Fine Orange ware of the Balancan and/or Altar groups, but Calatrava and Tierra Blanca are known only from surface collections.
Still farther north, the site of Aguacatal (Matheny 1970), on the western margin of the Laguna de Terminos, seems to represent yet another ceramic region distinct from the others. There is a general modal similarity to the Late Classic pottery of the Peten region, but the overall pattern is quite divergent, not only from Peten but also from the other complexes in the northwestern zone. It would appear that there existed a coastal ceramic sphere surrounding the Laguna de Terminos (Matheny 1970; Ruz 1969; Ball 1978). Interestingly enough. Terminal Classic fine paste wares, although present, do not seem to be very common, at least in comparison to tbe later Mangle and Plantacion complexes that represent the Postclassic period. This seems to be true of other Laguna de Terminos sites with the exception of Los Guarixes, where fine wares are common (Ruz 1969: 89-105; Ball 1978: 82).
In the extreme northwestern portion, Comalcalco and the surrounding area (e. g., Huimango; Berlin 1956: 127-129) constitute still a different ceramic pattern from other regions (Peniche 1973). As outlined by Piedad Peniche, the ceramic chronology places the major occupation at Comalcalco in the Terminal Classic period after an occupational break of nearly seven hundred years, although more recent investigations at Comalcalco have encountered evidence of Classic-period occupation of the site (Lopez V., personal communication). Moreover, the presence of Campeche Late Classic polychromes now known to pertain to both the Tepeu 1 and 2 spheres (see Ball 1978: 97-98) also supports the likelihood of a Late Classic occupation. Likewise, the architectural similarity between Palenque and Comalcalco would suggest contemporaneity of the two sites (Andrews 1967: 99ff; Peniche 1973: 170). Peniche, on the other hand, argues that Comalcalco came into full flower as Palenque went into decline, and that Comalcalco may have served as a refuge for a population from Palenque. However this all sorts out, if Peniche’s chronology is correct, Comalcalco experienced a major occupation during the Terminal Classic, which consists of a local ceramic inventory that, although including some Balancan Fine Orange trade pieces, reflects its own rather unique regional character, but with considerable interactions with the Campeche coast.
World History
