ABSTRACT
Yaxha and Nakum are two important Maya centers where intensive investigations have been conducted during the last three decades. The scale of monumental architecture documented at Yaxha indicates that it was one of the largest Late Preclassic cities in the southern Maya lowlands and must have dominated other neighboring centers. The first part of the Middle Preclassic, sometimes termed “pre-Mamom” because it predates the great spread of the Mamom ceramic sphere, is characterized by many important socio-cultural changes, but mainly by the spread of village life and pottery in the Maya lowlands. The Middle Preclassic period is traditionally divided into two ceramic horizons: pre-Mamom and Mamom. Nakum and Yaxha have evidence of pre-Mamom occupation. The most important Late Preclassic complex of Nakum is the Central Acropolis. It grew considerably during the Chicanel phase. The Late Preclassic also saw several important architectural programs in the Northern Sector of Nakum.
