Debitage and Diminutive Domiciles: Late-Terminal Classic Lithic Production, Consumption, and Raw Material Availability at El Zotz, Guatemala

Author(s): Joshua Kwoka; Alyce de Carteret

Year: 2016

Summary

El Zotz is an ancient Maya site located in the contemporary Department of El Petén, Guatemala. Its influence on Classic Lowland geopolitics and the political fortunes of its elites are attested by inscriptions at home and abroad. Dwarfed by funerary temples and palace complexes, multiple small household groups dot the site’s periphery. This paper shifts the focus of analysis to populations located toward the opposite end of the sociopolitical spectrum through an analysis of lithic data recovered from 17 Late to Terminal Classic (A.D. 600 - 980) residential structures. Preliminary results of aggregate and technological analyses of chert and obsidian artifacts are presented. Of particular interest is interhousehold variability in lithic production and consumption practices as indices of economic and/or social differentiation or integration. Furthermore, obsidian data is employed to evaluate current models of obsidian production and distribution for the Maya Lowlands.

Cite this Record

Debitage and Diminutive Domiciles: Late-Terminal Classic Lithic Production, Consumption, and Raw Material Availability at El Zotz, Guatemala. Joshua Kwoka, Alyce de Carteret. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 405158)

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Keywords

Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 12.383 ; max long: -86.353; max lat: 23.08 ;