The Bolonchén Regional Archaeological Project: Sixteen Years of Investigating Maya Society in the Eastern Puuc Region from the Preclassic through the Historical Period

The Puuc Region of the Northern Yucatán Peninsula has long been identified as a distinctive cultural sub-region of the greater Ancient Maya area along architectural, environmental, and demographic lines. Since 2000, the Bolonchén Regional Archaeological Project (BRAP) has investigated the formation of regionalism and the Ancient Maya community in the Eastern Puuc centering on the sites of Kiuic, Huntichmul, Labná, and Yaxhom. Taking a holistic approach that includes extensive inter-site survey work, systematic excavations, archaeometric analyses, and experimental archaeology, BRAP is continuing to shed light on the unique local trajectory of the Bolonchén District. Sub-foci of the project include such wide-ranging topics as: the evolution of public architecture and spaces; the settlement and exploitation of the hinterlands between the larger site centers; the development and organization of an elite suburban complex; the identification of some of the earliest permanent settlements in the region; Ancient Maya foodways; site abandonment processes; and, the continued occupation of the region in recent centuries, among others. As a result of these ongoing studies, BRAP is contributing to a more detailed understanding of the development and functioning of Maya society in the region from the Middle Preclassic all the way up through the Historical Period.