Abstract

In the interest of current critical approaches within culture studies, I will examine the writings of Sylvanus Griswold Morley, an American archaeologist who for forty years dominated Maya archaeology through activities associated with the Carnegie Institute of Washington and through the publication of his monumental synthesis on Maya Civilization: The Ancient Maya. This paper will investigate Morleys contribution through identification of the models on which he constructed a particular view of the ancient Maya, the social, political, economic, and academic circumstances out of which such models arose, and the personal agendas which they were used to fulfill. In assessing this model, I will cite both areas in which it achieved lasting success, and sorne of the avenues of inquiry which it marginalized. Looking at Morleys model from a contemporary perspective, I will explore some of the ways in which it continues to influence archaeological interpretation, and thereby to suggest more responsible post-structural and post-colonial alternatives.