Río Bec

The site was first mentioned by the Austrian explorer Teoberto Maler at the end of the 19th century, though he never visited it. The French explorer Maurice de Perigny was the first European to visit and report on Río Bec. The site is now being excavated and restored by a group of French archaeologists from the CNRS headed by Dominique Michelet, who have located several architectural groups. Their surveys and maps of several square kilometres give a better understanding of the ancient settlement. Excavation of the principal building at Río Bec A, a building with three towers and several rooms, was under way in 2006.

Río Bec temple-pyramids are located in the central Maya lowlands and are characterised by a style that began to appear during the seventh century A.D. and continued into the early twelfth century A.D. They consist of a range-type building with typically two non-functional solid masonry towers at either end. The twin towers narrow with ascension, giving an illusion of greater height, and appear to have stairs along their faces leading to the temple on top; the steps are only a design motif, and the towers rise at steep vertical angles that would make ascent difficult in any case.

The temples on the platforms at the top of the towers are also non-functional. They are solid masses with no interior rooms, and pseudo-doorways built into niches in their fronts give the appearance of a functional door. The towers carry the typical decorations of a pyramid and its upper temple, and at first glance are taken for functional pyramids. The purpose of the Río Bec temple-pyramids is unknown, but they do resemble the twin-tower complexes of Tikal.