Pollock’s monumental work is the most comprehensive reference available on the ancient Maya architecture of the Puuc region in Yucatán, Mexico. This long-awaited publication is the culmination of decades of research and writing by Pollock, one of the most respected Maya archaeologists in the profession. The field research for this book was begun in the early 1930s under the sponsorship of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and continued on and off through the 1940s. The book provides maps of most of the sites in the region along with voluminous descriptions, drawings, and photographs of the structures at these sites. Maya archaeologists will find this publication an invaluable tool in any research regarding site layout and architecture in the Puuc region.
In two areas of current interest, however, this book has relatively little to say. First, as Pollock readily admits, his surveys, in keeping with the archaeological tenor of the times, concentrated on major architecture to the virtual exclusion of impermanent “household” architecture. Second, as Pollock also notes, without extensive excavations, the author’s surface surveys and limited excavations were insufficient for the construction of a detailed chronology for the region, particularly as regards the rise and decline of such great sites as Uxmal, Kabah, and Sayil. Thus, even with the publication of The Puuc, our knowledge of the nature of the Puuc sites, their population size, and how their populations and influence may have shifted through time is extremely limited.
In sum, although the book clearly provides a summation of the state of archaeological knowledge of Puuc architecture, it also indicates the gaps in basic information that archaeologists need to fill if they are to understand the hows and whys of ancient cultural development and decline in the Puuc region. New research, such as the aerial surveys for the new archaeological atlas of Yucatán, are certain to provide some of the needed settlement data. Until new surveys and excavations are undertaken and published, however, Pollock’s study will stand as the state of the art foundation upon which all future studies will have to build.
