POSTCLASSIC POTTERY AND IDENTITIES

The earliest archaeological effort to understand the Postclassic Itza Mayas in central Petén was that of the Carnegie Institution of Washington on the Tayasal Peninsula. Although a large-scale project had been envisioned by Sylvanus Morley, who mistakenly thought the peninsula was the site of the Itza capital, only two field seasons directed by Carl Guthe were carried out. Work was halted after only small amounts of Postclassic materials were recovered and attention turned to more productive projects at Uaxactun and Chich'en Itza. “Nothing but brief reports were ever published (Guthe 1921, 1922) and most of Guthe’s collections were mislaid,” but