CHAPTER 2 LATE POSTCLASSIC MESOAMERICA 83Figure 2.5 Postclassic Mayan effigy
censer from Mayapan depicting the
deity Itzamna. This example was
recently found by Carlos Peraza Lope
of the Centro INAH–Yucatán during
his investigations at the site center.
Photo by Bradley Russell, courtesy of
Carlos Peraza Lope.the time of Spanish contact. Mayapán’s long-distance economy, like that of Chichén
Itzá, relied heavily on this network of sea-based commerce, which circled the Yucatan
peninsula from Honduras to the Gulf Coast. The Island of Cozumel not only served
as a center for trade but also was the site of an important shrine to Ix Chel, goddess
of medicine and a patron deity of women and merchants. On the mainland, Tulum
and Santa Rita Corozal were busy seaports whose buildings were adorned with col-
orful murals depicting ceremonies that may represent accession to political and re-
ligious offices (Figure 2.6).
Postclassic Mayan groups that remained in the southern lowlands following the
Classic collapse have been intensively studied in the central Petén on the shores of
a chain of lakes: Lakes Petén Itzá, Yaxhá, and Macanché. Similar Postclassic Mayan
settlements have also been investigated in the lagoons of northeastern Belize, at the
sites of Laguna de On and Caye Coco, and at the lagoon shore site of Lamanai, a Clas-
sic period center that never collapsed. In terms of both political organization and ar-
tifact and architectural styles, there were strong similarities in the architecture and