This volume focuses exclusively on the Puuc region, which rarely gets this kind of attention in academic literature. It contains 11 chapters, 3 of which are in Spanish. The first seven chapters have an archaeological focus, and the last four discuss art and writing. Written for an expert audience, this book provides a much-needed update from an array of projects at various research stages across the states of Yucatán and Campeche.

Michael Smyth and colleagues discuss the site of Xcoch, whose architectural center clusters around water resources, highlighting the significance that water management played during the Preclassic and Classic periods. Using settlement pattern studies, sediment cores, speleothem analysis, and dating methods, they argue that the site experienced multiple population declines despite the construction and modification of various water catchment features in the face of intense and recurring droughts. Meanwhile, at nearby Uxmal, where they engaged in more intense water management, the population thrived for a century after Xcoch's decline.

Ken Seligson and colleagues examine lime powder (Spanish cal) production, which has been hard to identify in the archaeological record due to the difficulty of identifying kiln structures. The discovery of seven possible kilns at Kiuic provides insight into cal manufacture, the resources needed to create it, and what role it played in the ancient Puuc economy. For example, powerful families likely controlled larger kilns located within elite residential compounds, while non-elites may have used smaller communal kilns.

Melissa Galván Bernal and colleagues examine a dismantled modeled and painted stucco façade deposited in a midden at Kiuic to better understand the social implications of the deconstruction process. The deposit is from a single façade that was intentionally dismantled while it was still in good condition and buried with ceramic, bone, speleothems, and burnt shell in a single ritual event. The authors argue that this façade was removed from an earlier building that was then dismantled and completely remodeled. Thus, the façade became ceremonial trash used in a termination ritual that symbolized a transitional political period.

Luis Raúl Pantoja Díaz investigates the site of Kabah, one of the largest centers, nestled within the highest elevations of the Yucatán. Despite early attention by John Lloyd Stephens and minor projects in the 1920s, ’50s, and ’80s, INAH did not initiate a major project there until 1990. Like other sites in the region, Kabah is comprised of dispersed settlement on the highest points of terrain, strategically surrounded by water sources such as aguadas and chultunes, quarries for sascab, and rich agricultural lands. Kabah's positioning of large elite structures on high terrain made this architecture very public, while also restricting access to ritual space.

Gustavo Novelo Rincón discusses the restoration work done on the Codz Pop building of Kabah, which served as the residence for the ruling family during the Terminal Classic period. The project has focused on conserving one of the best examples of an elaborate Puuc façade, while also attempting to understand the building's iconography, associated materials, and placement within the site. Although the research is in progress, they have been able to detect seven distinct construction phases, the presence of ritual activities in the interior of the building, and evidence that the elaborate façades were altered as political powers changed.

Lourdes Toscano Hernández and José Huchim Herrera examine the abandonment of domestic items in what they call “Architecture of Power” across the Puuc region during the Terminal Classic period. In buildings once occupied by ruling families, they have detected a pattern of trash heaps, including animal bones, broken building ornaments, broken ceramics, lithics, and ash intentionally placed along destroyed stairways. The rituals appear similar at distinct sites and were likely done to show reverence to a space before or after being occupied.

Iken Paap presents research on the site of Dzehkabtún in Campeche. At AD 900 there was a sudden end to elite construction activities, a change in the function of existing buildings, and the creation of new building forms such C- and L-shaped bench structures in formerly elite contexts. Based on their association with chultunes and ceramic and lithic debris, their function appears to have been habitational, demonstrating non-elite continuity during a period of elite upheaval.

Jeff Kowalski closely examines the meaning of the imagery of the Nunnery Quadrangle, which he argues included divine feathered serpents with political ties to the legendary Tollan. Images of God N further tie the space to a cosmic creation event, while bound and naked captives look down onto the courtyard, where successful captors would have gathered. Other figures are engaged in post-battle dances and scenes of captive sacrifices as part of ruler accession celebrations. The reading demonstrates that this complicated visual text marked Uxmal as a central place that celebrated its king, while also demonstrating his recent expansion of political power.

Meghan Rubenstein and Philipp Galeev reveal new interpretations of the hieroglyphic platform at Kabah, a low, four-sided structure covered with a carved inscription. In an attempt to overcome the issues of worn panels and missing blocks, the authors created a catalogue, compiling photographs and drawings from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries combined with detailed documentation conducted in 2013. The resulting work allows for new interpretations, including the presence of calendrical dates and glyphs that suggest royal accession and military activity. Although these characteristics are shared with other Puuc inscriptions, they also detected three separate writing styles, which may suggest an evolving structure that was enlarged over time.

Maline D. Werness-Rude refines the definition of the Chocholá style of ceramics from the Late Classic, characterized by gourd-shaped cups with incised texts and deeply carved iconographic panels. These elite vessels conveyed the subtle agendas of the elite when given as gifts and during feasting events, in particular through their dedicatory texts along the rim or in diagonal or vertical text boxes. Calendrical dates reveal that they were manufactured for only 100 years, and artists placed their emphasis on titular phrases, toponyms, and personal names, giving this corpus a particularly strong association with the historical record.

Lastly, Carlos Pallán Gayol and Antonio Benavides Castillo discuss the carved hieroglyphic monuments from H'Wasil in Campeche. The site includes a strong tradition of sculpture, similar to other sites in the region. This includes a hieroglyphic doorway with 33 carved glyphic blocks that was once part of a building with extensive iconography. Although lacking in the historical richness of the texts found in other regions, careful documentation has revealed that H'Wasil was a secondary site that was ruled by a historical figure identified at the rank of sajal.