Final Report of the 2000 Yo’okop Field Season: Initial Mapping and Surface Collections
Justine M. Shaw, Dave Johnstone, and Ruth Krochock

Discussion and Conclusions

The first season of research at Yo’okop yielded results well beyond any prior expectations, in terms of the scale, quality, and quantity of remains. In addition to finding that the site itself was larger than had been thought (with the location of Group D and Sacbe 3), individual groups and structures proved to be more substantial than earlier reconnaissance through the dense underbrush had hinted. The presence of temple structures rising up to 28 meters and range structures stretching nearly 60 meters long surprised even Project members who had believed that Yo’okop was a significant site. Likewise, while structures and monuments have clearly suffered centuries of decay, researchers were pleasantly surprised to find a number of standing vaults (particularly in Postclassic structures), intact fortifications, and partially readable epigraphic materials. Though it will clearly take years to even begin to understand Yo’okop’s history, the first season showed that the site has incredible potential.

The findings of the Proyecto Arqueológico Yo’okop have significance at the local, regional, and supraregional levels. At the local level, this Project is the first long-term archaeological work in a large, archaeologically-uninvestigated region of north-central Quintana Roo. As we are able to collect more data, it will provide a more detailed culture history and ceramic chronology for the site and allow archaeologists to begin to assess the question of how Yo’okop’s occupants managed to survive, and thrive, in a relatively dry zone with little surface water. At a regional level, the Project strives to examine the relationships between surrounding, and possibly competing, cultural spheres. Yo’okop’s position in a frontier zone makes it highly susceptible to cultural domination or direct conquest by its larger neighbors, including Cobá, Calakmul, and Tikal. Of wider significance is the degree to which long-term drought played a role in the Maya collapse. Yo’okop is an eminently suitable location for examining this problem in two respects. The presence of only one significant water source, the aguada, makes the site hypersensitive to drought conditions, while the climatic sequence derived from nearby Lake Chichancanab (Hodell et al. 1995) provides an index of local hydraulic variability against which the occupational history of Yo’okop can be compared.

The first season did allow Project members to begin constructing a very preliminary culture history for the site, augmented by clues about possible political affiliations, that pertains to both of the Project’s initial hypotheses. Based upon the research conducted in 2000, it appears that Yo’okop may date from at least the Late Formative through the Postclassic. A few scattered Middle Formative sherds were observed in the region, suggesting a possible earlier occupation. A more definite population is ceramically indicated for the Late Formative and the frequency of Early Classic ceramics and massive Izamal-style steps on numerous structures attest to a substantial Early Classic presence in Group A.  A possible Early Classic date of A.D. 476 on Stela 3 and a reference to Calakmul’s Ruler 17 ("Sky Witness"), known to have been in power in A.D. 572 (Martin 1997:861), on a glyph block at Yo’okop indicate that the site was an important place during Classic times. Structure S5E1-1, the unusual raised platform with a central pyramidal structure surrounded by a moat-like depression and then a raised square of range structures, is like similar to a Classic structure at Tikal (Structure 5D104 or the South Acropolis - Carr and Hazard 1961) indicating a possible relationship to another Southern power. Additional ties to Tikal are indicated by the presence of the kalomte glyph block (Harrison 1999). As noted by Stromsvik and Pollock (Stromsvik et al. 1955), the Late Classic was a boom building period for Yo’okop and equally well-represented in surface collections. The Late Classic portion of Structure S4W1-1, the "Castillo," is similar to the Xaybe and other rounded-corner constructions at Cobá. However, according to the very preliminary data gathered in this first season, largely focused in Group A, the Terminal Classic appears to have witnessed a sharp decline as expressed in constructions. On the other hand, Terminal Classic ceramics continue in moderate quantities. Yo’okop appears to have rebounded in the Postclassic, with the large Structure S4W2-1 (currently being interpreted as an accession structure), numerous East Coast style temples, and smaller shrines being constructed throughout the site. The walled compound on the northern edge of Group A and the fortifications in Group B could not be dated based strictly upon surface observations. Both constructions do appear to have been relatively late in Yo’okop’s occupation as the constructions were placed over earlier structures and were not dismantled.

Thus, Yo’okop, located in the "Petén corridor" between important Northern sites, such as Cobá, and Southern sites, including Tikal and Calakmul, contains possible architectural and epigraphic ties to both regions. While surface collections from 2000 did not yield sherds in sufficient quantity or with adequate preservation to support or refute ties to any site or area, it is hoped that proposed 2001 test pit excavations may yield in-context ceramics that may assist in both dating occupations and refining ideas about political affiliation. At present, the hypothesis that Yo’okop was an important site in a frontier zone between regions, and possibly competing alliances, seems to be supported by the apparent mix of affiliations and presence of fortifications.

The second set of hypotheses, regarding the possible impact of climate change on Yo’okop also began to be evaluated this season. While more data are clearly required to fully test any ideas, the first season of research did produce a very preliminary occupational sequence that can be compared to climatic data. Yo’okop’s culture history, constructed through the comparison of relative ceramic frequencies from each time period, as well as in the prevalence of architectural and epigraphic styles, does indicate a decrease in activity at the same time that a marked dry period is detected at Lake Chichancanab. In Group A, only Structure S3E1-5 obviously dates to the Terminal Classic based upon its architectural style. This mound, situated at a point where it is regularly flooded in modern times, was apparently built when the aguada’s water level was lower than at present. Constructed depressions on and around Structures S4W1-1 and S5E1-1 appear to have been capable of holding water, although excavations are required to ascertain whether or not the features date to a time of water scarcity. While the Project clearly needs to gather more evidence to truly test the hypothesis, very preliminary evidence does appear to support the idea that climate change may have affected the relative population size of Yo’okop.

In 2001, the Project has proposed continuing this program of research at Yo’okop with continued mapping, focused on Groups B and D and Sacbe 3, and limited test-pitting in the areas already mapped. Test pits are proposed to date and further explore Group B’s fortifications, to examine the date and function of the possible water storage feature to the north east of Structure S4W1-1, to better investigate Structure S3E1-5 (small mound near the aguada), and to obtain ceramic samples that may allow researchers to assign the construction of Sacbeob 1 and 3.  If possible, we will use carbon-14 dates to add to a chronology that is, thus far, driven by architectural and ceramic styles and epigraphic materials.

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