Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Over the last three decades new analyses and theorizing directed at ceremonial lithics has increased our understanding of the enigmatic "eccentric" flints and obsidians of the Maya. Eccentric flints and obsidians were chipped into elaborate forms, some indecipherable, but others clearly recognizable as celestial bodies and deities. They were most commonly cached in elite contexts, often associated with temples and stelae, and positioned in a highly stylized manner. While some of these items were rather simple to produce, others created by some of the ancient world’s most skilled stone-workers remain unreplicable by modern knappers. They are found throughout the Maya world, and yet they differ in style, execution, and depositional contexts over time and through space. Eccentrics are also found in Central Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica, and, to a certain extent, are directly related to the traditions of the Maya area. This symposium gathers archaeologists, lithic technologists, and iconographers to examine the production, distribution, and meaning of eccentrics. New discoveries in the field, replication experiments in the lab, and symbolic analyses are reviewed in an attempt to uncover regional and temporal patterns associated with one of Mesoamerica’s least understood artifact classes.

Other Keywords
Maya: Classic • Lithic Analysis • Ritual and Symbolism • Craft Production • Experimental Archaeology • Lithic Analysis: Obsidian • Material Culture and Technology • Highland Mesoamerica: Classic • Technology • Flint Knapping

Geographic Keywords
United Mexican States (Country) • Belize (Country) • North America (Continent) • Peten (State / Territory) • Yucatan (State / Territory) • Orange Walk (State / Territory) • Cayo (State / Territory) • Corozal (State / Territory) • Belize (State / Territory) • Stann Creek (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-15 of 15)

  • Documents (15)
Documents
  • A Comparison of Lithic Caches from Ucanal and Xunantunich: Is It Possible to Identify Eccentric Traditions as Communities of Practice at the Regional Level? (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Zachary Hruby. Jaime Awe. Christina Halperin. Catharina Santasilia.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Two recently discovered ritual deposits from the eastern Maya Lowlands seem to reveal similarities in the kinds of eccentrics used in Late Classic Maya caches from different political centers. Upon closer examination, however, they...

  • Domestic Contexts for Chipped Stone Eccentrics in the Maya World (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Dawn Crawford. Brigitte Kovacevich. Zachary Hruby.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While most ceremonial lithic items, or eccentrics, are found in elite burial and ritual caches, others are found in more mundane contexts, such as fill and household middens. We examine artifacts recovered from households at the...

  • Eccentric Production Techniques and Caching Practices at Xunantunich, Belize (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kelsey Sullivan. Jaime Awe.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Though identified at sites throughout Mesoamerica and the Maya Lowlands, eccentric lithics remain poorly understood and understudied. These esoteric artifacts, however, are very important to understanding the ritual expression of...

  • Experiments in Replicating Eccentric Workshop Debris (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only John Clark.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Elaborate Maya eccentrics were made from two kinds of blanks: large pieces of tabular flint and large flakes harvested from thick, roundish nodules. Preforms from these blanks were made by direct or indirect percussion, probably...

  • "An Instrument for Seeing": The Multivalent Nature of Volcanic Glass in Mesoamerica (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Franco Rossi. Zachary Hruby.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Throughout Mesoamerica, obsidian commonly turns up in the form of prismatic blades, knives, projectile points and spearheads—pragmatic tools of daily work and routine life in the Pre-Columbian world. Yet these ordinary usages did...

  • An Interpretative Framework and Description of Ritualized Obsidian from Caracol, Belize (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lucas Martindale Johnson. Arlen Chase. Diane Chase.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ceremonial life at Caracol, Belize can be assessed through a technological and contextual analysis of ritualized obsidian objects. These items are typically termed "obsidian eccentrics", although "ritualized obsidian" more...

  • Late Classic Lithics Caches in Northwestern Belize: Technology and Symbolism (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Joshua Kwoka.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the Late Classic, lithic artifacts, including eccentrics, served as the primary elements of many Lowland Maya caches. Despite this general pattern, technological and iconographic analyses illuminate the distinct character of...

  • Middle Preclassic Chipped Stone Caches at Ceibal and Holtun, Guatemala (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Brigitte Kovacevich. Kazuo Aoyama.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the late Middle Preclassic period (700-350 B.C.) at Ceibal, common objects in ritual deposits in the public plaza shifted from greenstone celt caches to other artifacts, including obsidian prismatic-blade cores. Like...

  • The Miniaturization of Lithic Artifacts within the Offerings at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alejandra Aguirre. Diego Matadamas.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The offerings at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan contain several lithic artifacts that were miniature versions of ornaments, weapons and attire, which were used to produce religious images. For the Mexicas, the act of placing...

  • Obsidian Blade Caches from the 8N-11 Group of Las Sepulturas, Copan, Honduras (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jorge Ramos. Zachary Hruby. Xinwei Li.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ongoing excavations in Structures 69C and 70W in the 8N-11 group of Las Sepulturas have uncovered pressure blade caches of great complexity and size. While blade caches are relatively common at Copan, these caches were excavated...

  • Replication Experiments: The Devil is in the Details (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only James Woods.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The manufacture of Mesoamerican flaked stone "profiles" involved a multi-step sequence from large percussion blank to detailed finishing using pressure-flaking. This paper explores issues involved with this last stage. Included is...

  • A Review of Indirect Percussion Techniques in the Americas and Their Possible Applications in the Manufacture of Ceremonial Bifaces and Mesoamerican Eccentrics (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Benjamin Eble. Zachary Hruby.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Almost a century of bias in favor of direct percussion in the archaeological modeling of biface manufacture in the New World has obscured the central role of indirect percussion in this process. We examine ethnohistorical and...

  • ¿Siluetas o excéntricos? (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alejandro Pastrana.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A partir del estudio del proceso de elaboración de siluetas o excéntricos bifaciales y monofaciales teotihuacanos de las fases Tlamimilolpa y Xolalpan, elaborados en el yacimiento de obsidiana verde de La Sierra de Las Navajas,...

  • The Symbolism and Technology of Classic Maya Tomb Debitage from El Peru-Waka (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David McCormick. Zachary Hruby. Olivia Navarro-Farr. Michelle Rich. Keith Eppich.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Obsidian blades and related debitage from four elite tombs recently excavated at El Peru-Waka have the potential to answer the question of why and how the ancient Maya placed this material above, around, and sometimes within the...

  • Was the Elaborate Chert Eccentric from San Andres, El Salvador, made by the Rosalila Copan "El Maestro"? (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Payson Sheets.

    This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Many decades ago Stanley Boggs discovered a particularly elaborate chert eccentric from San Andres, El Salvador, yet he never published the find. Here we compare it to the set of more elaborate eccentrics manufactured by "El...