Region in the north-central region of the Yucatán, Mexico, with a distinctive Maya architectural style of 600-900 AD, the last variant of the Classic Maya culture. Its main characteristic is the use of veneer masonry to cover rubble and concrete walls, and the prefabrication of sculpted elements which were assembled to form patterns and masks. The style was florid, with alternating zones of plain and elaborately decorated carving; fret- and lattice-designs and round columns are common, with many low, single-story residential buildings. These mosaics are found at Uxmal, one of the best-known Puuc centers. Puuc architecture has also been found at Labná, Kabah, and Sayil. The style spread all over the northern Yucatán and there are some structures at Chichen Itza. Puuc sites are thought by some to represent a lowland Maya New Empire with their apogee in the 9th-10th centuries a time during which the great Petén or Central Subregion centers were in decline or had collapsed.