Chen K’u: The Ceramic of the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá
Study of the Ceramic Fragments of the Explorations Conducted in the 60’s

Cochuah Horizon (300 - 600 CE)

The Cochuah Horizon, with 878 sherds and representing 1.23% of the total collection, seems to show what would be the first major occupation in the area between the years 300 and 600 CE.  Nine different types already show a significant variability. The best represented type is Tacopate Trickled on Brown (probably related to northern Campeche) with 79% of the Complex, followed by Chuburná Brown type with 13% (this percentage is misleading given that all the fragments of this type pertain to a single pitcher). The rest of the types represent lower percentages, mainly with Cetelac Plant Temper, 3%, and followed by Xanabá (related to northern Yucatán), Caucel (related to northern Yucatán), Águila (related to Petén), Valladolid (related to northern Yucatán), Huachinango (related to the Eastern Coast), and Batres (related to the Eastern Coast).

The ceramic of this era is almost non-existent in the collections analyzed from other contexts at Chichén Itzá, where we have collected only 61 sherds of this period in the analysis of the 1993-1997 seasons. However, there is one sample from this time frame collected by Agustín Peña at Chichén Viejo (S. Boucher, personal communication), and it is a period which is well represented in the Balancanché caves. As far as I know, architecture assignable to this period has not been found at the site, but for the sample we have identified in the Cenote’s collection, it would seem that a small settlement may have existed at that time. Ninety-four percent of these vessels are pitchers, 3.8% are tecomates, 2.3% are cajetes, and we found just one fragment of a bowl. In short, an analysis of form appears to reveal that the fundamental use of the Cenote at that time was as a water supply. For that period, no evidence was found of a cult or ceremonial use connected with the Cenote.

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