Komchen

Komchen is pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located in the northwestern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is approximately 20 km from the northern peninsular coast and situated close to the site of Dzibilchaltun. Komchen was initially settled during the Mesoamerican Middle Preclassic. Its earliest settlement consisted of a small residential community with perishable structure. The site transitioned into a larger community during the Late Preclassic, reaching its peak in construction between the years 350-150 BC (Sharer 1994:130) and employing permanent stone masonry in architectural construction. It appears that the site was entirely abandoned by the end of the Late Preclassic (ca. A.D. 250). Later, however, the site was partially reoccupied by residents of the expanding center of Dzibilchaltun.

Archaeological investigation of the site commenced during the early 1980s when a research project, under the direction of E. Wyllys Andrews V of the Middle American Research Institute (MARI) of Tulane University, began excavating at Komchen. This research documented nearly 1000 residential structures in an area approximately 2 km² in size, including a core of five large platforms (the tallest of which was 8 meters) and a sacbe (one of the earliest identified in the Yucatán) (Andrews et al. 1984).

References

*Andrews, E. Wyllys, V, William M. Ringle, P.J. Barnes, A. Barrera R., and Tomas Gallareta N. (1984) Komchen, an Early Maya Community in Northwest Yucatán. In "Investigaciones recientes en el área maya" 1:73-92. XVII Mesa Redonda, Sociedad Mexicana de Antropologia, Mexico City.

*Sharer, Robert J. (1994) "The Ancient Maya", 5th edition. Stanford University Press, Stanford.