- Becan
Becan (alternatively Becán, using Spanish orthography to mark vowel stress not otherwise marked in
Mayan languages ) is anarchaeological site of theMaya civilization inpre-Columbian Mesoamerica . Becan is located near the center of theYucatán Peninsula , in the present-dayMexican state ofCampeche , about 150 km (93.2 mi) north ofTikal . The Maya sites ofBalamku ,Calakmul ,Chicanna andXpuhil are nearby. The name "Becan" was bestowed on the site by archaeologists who rediscovered the site, meaning "ravine or canyon formed by water" inYukatek Maya , after the site's most prominent and unusual feature, its surrounding artificialmoat .Archaeological evidence shows that Becan was occupied in the middle Pre-Classic period ("see:"
Mesoamerican chronology ), about 550 BCE, and grew to a major population and ceremonial center a few hundred years later in the late Preclassic. The population and scale of construction declined in the early classic (c 250 CE), although it was still a significant site, and trade goods fromTeotihuacan have been found. A system of moats and ramparts were constructed around the site at this time. There is a moat that runs the circumference of the city which covers approximately 25hectare s (61.7acre s). Around 500 the population again increased dramatically and many large new buildings were constructed, mostly in the "Rio Bec " style of Maya architecture. Construction of major buildings and elite monuments stopped about 830, although ceramic evidence show that the site continued to be occupied for some time thereafter, although the population went into decline and Becan was probably abandoned by about 1200.The site was first documented in the archaeological literature in 1934 by archaeologists Karl Ruppert and John Denison on an expedition to the region sponsored by the
Carnegie Institution of Washington , who named it "Becan" after the conspicuous system of moats; the ancient name of the site is not known. From 1969 to 1971 archaeological excavations were made at Becan sponsored byTulane University and theNational Geographic Society .
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