Putún

Putún is the name of a Mayan ethnic group on the periphery of Pre-Columbian Maya civilization, generally considered a synonym for the Chontal Maya, though it also referred to the closely related Chʼol people. They were originally based in the delta of the Usumacinta and Grijalva Rivers, a region of waterways, lakes, and swamps in which aquatic transport dominated, as it did around the Laguna de Términos and through the numerous rivers that ended there. The Putun established two main urban centers: Potonchán, situated in the mouth of the Grijalva River in the current state of Tabasco, and Itzamkanac, near the Candelaria River, which ends at the Laguna de Términos in Campeche.

They displaced much of the older leadership of the Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic and Postclassic. The Putún, who came from the Gulf coast in the northwest region of the Maya area, are generally held to have been more Mexicanized than their contemporaries. They were associated with the Puuc architectural style and distinctive orangeware pottery. The Itza are often considered a group of Putún Maya, and Chakán Putún and the Chetumal Province also had Putun origins.