Itzan was a small city but was considered by archaeologists to have characteristics that made excavation worthwhile. Initial investigations recorded a number of carved monuments and large structures, some standing up to high. The site core was mapped in 1986, when archaeologists noted that a number of carved monuments had been damaged by looters and that some of the buildings had been cut by looters' trenches. Various monument pieces that had been cut by looters were transferred to the departmental capital Flores with the intention of later moving them to Guatemala City. The centre of the site is grouped around the North and South Plazas, both of which are open plazas, and the closed West and East Plazuelas which are completely enclosed by architecture. The site core includes a formal acropolis, large plazas and a large amount of stelae and altars, totalling at least 25 monuments, all of which have been moved from their original locations by looters in order to excavate below them. Most of these monuments were originally positioned in open plazas in front of the largest structures. The remains of hieroglyphic texts were found associated with the North and South Stairways of the West Plaza. Much of the Late Classic period acropolis was built upon earlier Preclassic structures. The site periphery between south of the site core included at least three groups of simple perishable Late Classic residential structures laid out around central patios, without being built upon platforms, suggesting that the population of the site was greater than initially thought based on the site's monumental architecture. The entire settled area of Itzan occupies a ridge in a strip about wide by long, with the site core being situated near the centre of this zone. A modern road cuts through the area of settlement. Stela 17 includes a hieroglyphic text that mentions lords of Itzan and of the nearby city of Altar de Sacrificios. It also contains a section of damaged text that may indicate warfare between Itzan and the site of El Chorro. Stela 20 is fragmented. A large piece was found to the northwest of the acropolis. Notes References Maya sites in Petén Department Former populated places in Guatemala Populated places established in the 10th century BC 10th-century BC establishments in the Maya civilization 10th-century disestablishments in the Maya civilization