A major impediment to understanding the Terminal Classic to Early Postclassic transition in northern Yucatan has been the lack of a reliable ceramic chronology defined from stratigraphic contexts at the site of Chichen Itza. The temporal relationship of Cehpech and Soluta ceramics is central to resolving the issue of the correct chronological placement of Chichen Itza. The results of stratigraphic excavations at Yula, a small site 5 km south of Chichen Itza, provide the strongest evidence to date that Cehpech and Sotuta ceramics were contemporaneous. Statistical analysis of pottery composition by stratum confirms a positive correlation between Sotuta and Cehpech, which are clearly differentiated from earlier pottery. Rather than following a linear sequence in which Cehpech precedes Sotuta, as suggested by R. E. Smith and other early researchers, these two slatewares represent coeval regional variation. Thus, the major occupation of Chichen Itza dates not to the Early Postclassic, but to the Terminal Classic. The results of this research contribute toward the redefinition of the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic periods in the northern Maya lowlands.

Research at the ancient Maya city of Yaxuna, located in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, has provided sufficient data to suggest a preliminary chronological framework for the cultural development of this large polity. Primary ceramic and stratigraphie data are presented to support a five-phase scheme of cultural history, encompassing the Middle Formative through Postclassic periods (500 b.c.–a.d. 1250). In addition to chronological significance, the political ramifications of a pan-lowland ceramic trade are addressed. Yaxuna experienced an early florescence in the Late Formative–Early Classic periods, when it was the largest urban center in the central peninsula. A second renaissance in the Terminal Classic period was the result of Yaxuna's role in an alliance between the Puuc and Coba, in opposition to growing Itza militancy. This paper proposes a chronological framework for the cultural development of one northern Maya region in order to facilitate an understanding of this area as part of the overall history of polity interaction and competition in the Maya lowlands.