 During the height of Motul de San José's power, it may have provided an important link to the San Pedro River, a significant trade route in ancient times.Motul de San José is possibly the source of the so-called "Ik-style" painted polychrome ceramics, a theory that has recently received additional support from archaeological excavations at the site.These ceramic vessels, including finely painted plates and cylindrical vessels, were first associated with the then-unidentified site of Ik in the 1970s by the Emblem Glyph included in the hieroglyphic texts on them.