The long but fragmented history of the Pet├йn Itzas requires investigation across multiple periods and regions. Chapters in this six-part overview interweave varying data pertaining to this groupтАФarchaeological, artifactual, indigenous textual, Spanish historicalтАФfrom multiple languages and academic fields, such as anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, ecology, and history. Part I introduces the lowland Itzas, northern and southern, with an emphasis on those of the central Pet├йn lakes area. Part II discusses general Itza origins and identities in the Epiclassic period, while part III reviews Spanish perceptions and misconceptions of the Pet├йn Itzas in their Contact-period writings. With these temporal anchors, parts IV and V present the archaeology and artifacts of the Pet├йn Itzas, including pottery, architecture, and arrow points, from varied sites and excavations but primarily focusing on the island capital of Tayza/Nojpet├йn. Part VI summarizes key data and themes of the preceding chapters for a new understanding of the Pet├йn Itzas.
A companion volume to The KowojтАФa similar treatment of the Pet├йn ItzasтАЩ regional neighborsтАФHistorical and Archaeological Perspectives on the Itzas of Pet├йn, Guatemala demonstrates the unique physical, cultural, and social framework that was home to the Pet├йn Itza, along with their backstory in northern Yucat├бn. Archaeologists, historians, art historians, and geographers who specialize in the Maya and the Postclassic, Contact, and Colonial periods will find this book of particular interest.
Contributors: Mark Brenner, Leslie G. Cecil, Charles Andrew Hofling, Nathan J. Meissner, Timothy W. Pugh, Yuko Shiratori
Prudence M. Rice is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Department of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She has authored, edited, or coedited eleven books.
Don S. Rice is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; a past Director of its Center for Archaeological Investigations research center; and a former Provost and Vice Chancellor of the university.