Developments in Ceramic Materials Research

4
Leslie G. Cecil
Ringle et al. (1998) believe that the feathered serpent imagery at Mayapán is associated
with the Kokom presence, the Quezalcoatl-Kukulcan cult, and Itza religious identity. The Itza
lineage of the Kokom ruled Mayapán for approximately 100 years, and in A.D. 1362/82 a
revolt brought a different Kokom lineage (the rival Itza) into power at Mayapán (Roys
1962:44-46; Tozzer 1941:26). However, problems soon arose for the Kokom as the Xiw
revolted against them. Ralph Roys (1962:47) notes that the Kokom lineage ruler at Mayapán
and other followers “fled by sea down the east coast, and went inland to Lake Petén” and
settled at Tayasal, which may indicate an earlier migration of the Itza to Petén. Munro
Edmonson (1986:58) also states that a migration occurred after the destruction of Mayapán
and “they went to the heart of the forest—Chak’an Putun, Tan Xuluc Mul by name.” Chak’an
Putun is believed to be located in the territory of Chak’an Itza—the northwestern quarter of
Petén Itza territory (Jones 1998; Schele and Mathews 1998:204). As a result of the expulsions
and revolts, Kokom rulership at Mayapán ended, Mayapán was destroyed, and nobles carried
codices to, and built temples in, their homelands—the 16 independent states (Roys 1962:47;
Tozzer 1941:38, 98). In the end, the Kokom remained in eastern Yucatán and the Xiw in
western Yucatán. Kokom patronyms, such as Balam, Chan, and Tun, were most numerous in
the sixteenth century provinces of Sotuta and Mani (Roys 1957:Table 1).
Another lineage at Mayapán was the Kowoj (also Couoh). According to the Chilam
Balam of Chumayel (Roys 1933:69), these Kowoj were the guardians of the east gate and
may have been related to the Xiw. Their association with the Xiw is strengthened by the
highest frequency of Kowoj lineage names outside of the Petén lakes region occurring at
Maní, the Xiw capital after the fall of Mayapán (Roys 1957:9, 66). Kowoj, Kab’, Kamal, and
Kawich patronyms were recorded in the towns of Tekit, Pencuyut, and Peto in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries in northern Yucatán (Roys 1957:Table 5; also Jones 1998:Table
1.1). In addition to lineage names, Landa (Tozzer 1941:56) and Roys (1957:168) state that the
Kowoj lineage powerfully ruled the province of Champoton in the sixteenth century, and that
they recreated architecture similar to that present at Mayapán at towns in that region (e.g., Isla
Cilvituk) (Alexander 1998, 2005a, 2005b). In addition to the presence of Kowoj lineage
names in northern Yucatán, lineage names have also been documented in eastern Yucatán
(Cozumel), Belize (Tipuj), and central Petén (Zacpetén and Topoxté Island) (Jones 1998).
In central Petén, ethnohistorical research has indicated that the Itza and Kowoj (as well as
other sociopolitical groups) occupied territory in the region in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries (Jones 1998:18). Spanish documents and Postclassic to Colonial period (thirteenth
through eighteenth centuries) native histories of these groups (especially the Xiw and the Itza)
record their presence, various alliances in Petén, as well as repeated movements to and from
northern Yucatán. The documents suggest that Petén was divided into administrative
provinces headed by and named after a dominant lineage, each controlling several
subprovinces throughout the area.
The Itza controlled the southern and western basin of Lake Petén Itzá, an area stretching
from Lake Quexil west to Lake Sacpuy, with their capital, Nojpeten (or Taiza), on modern
Flores Island (Figure 1) (Boot 2005; Jones 1998; Jones et al. 1981). The Itza may have been
an alliance of multiple sociopolitical groups (Jones 1998). Their Late Postclassic ruler, Kan
Ek’, claimed ancestry from Chich’en Itza in the northern Yucatán peninsula, and he stated
that the Itza migrated from Chich’en Itza when it fell at approximately A.D. 1200 (Edmonson
1986; Jones 1998; Roys 1933). In A.D. 1695, AjChan, Kan Ek’s nephew, also claimed that
his deceased mother was from Chich’en Itza, and “members of the Itza nobility were still