Pride and Prejudice in the Maya Lowlands

Summary

Although they represent the foundation on which ancient Maya economies were predicated, Mayanists traditionally have ignored non-obsidian lithics in their entirety. We present an historical overview of how artifacts made of chert and related stones have been traditionally analyzed and documented in the archaeological literature of the Maya Lowlands, then examine the important contributions lithic studies have made in the past few decades. The institutionalized neglect of this material class has been perpetuated by several long-held assumptions, which are inaccurate. Contrary to entrenched belief, chert resources are neither homogeneous nor are they homogeneously distributed across the Maya lowlands. The idea that measurable and informative technological, and stylistic, variation exists both spatially and temporally among tool classes also runs counter to traditional dogma. We conclude with a discussion of how the intricacies and regional variability of ancient Maya economic organization remains in a nascent state by ignoring one of their most critical resources. Non-obsidian lithic analysis can inspire a new era of enlightenment in ancient Maya research through systematic incorporation into project agendas and institutional course offerings.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Global Perspectives on Lithic Technologies in Complex Societies

Keywords

Spatial Coverage