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I address some of the broader issues in the concluding chapter to the volume. In various ways, the chapters in this book examine the use of pottery in interpretations of the lives of ancient Maya people. Each chapter addresses issues of general method and theory related to type-variety and modal classification with specific examples derived from fieldwork. In this conclusion, I reflect upon some of the concerns that have been raised about type: variety-mode classification in this volume and elsewhere, and I consider some of the ways these may be addressed.

The ancient Maya produced a broad range of pottery, which has attracted concerted scholarly attention for nearly a century. The authors of the chapters in this volume address a range of issues around the classification, interpretation, and analysis of ancient Maya pottery linked in one way or another to the type: variety-mode approach. Given the many years of research devoted to Maya pottery, one might expect that there would be agreement over the goals and methods of the type: variety-mode approach, but this is not the case. In fact, it seems that every Maya archaeologist has an opinion on type-variety, including (and perhaps especially) those who know little about it. The authors of the chapters here also do not agree on a number of issues, and no doubt readers will have plenty to say. In the introduction, I present a brief review of each of the chapters. In the final chapter, I address some of the issues that have been raised about type: variety-mode more generally.

Urban, Schortman, and Ausec examine their use of type-variety classification to identify the Early Postclassic in three areas of Honduras. These authors stress the flexibility of type: variety-mode, which they continue to modify as new types of data are recognized and new questions are asked. While recognizing some shortcomings (particularly that type-variety alone tells us little about vessel function), they argue that type: variety-mode has been useful for the identification of spatial and temporal variation and has allowed them to deal efficiently with sherd samples that sometimes number in the millions (a prospect that makes me shudder) in a relatively small area with striking pottery diversity.

John Aimers and Elizabeth Graham describe how ceramics have been approached at Lamanai, Belize. Several people are conducting multiple independent analyses of the ceramics using contextual associations of vessels, type: variety-mode classification, material science approaches, and iconographic analysis. We emphasize type-variety in the chapter, particularly the usefulness of ceramic system assignments as a preliminary stage of analysis or for sherds that lack important features diagnostic of specific types, as well as poorly preserved sherds. We also briefly indicate some of the results of combining various approaches to pottery at Lamanai.