When is Chert More Than Just Chert? Case studies of Elite Distribution of Utilitarian Goods in Northwestern Peten, Guatemala and Western Belize

Summary

At a basic level, the lowland Classic Maya economy was a complex web of prestige exchange, centralized distribution, and local market economies. In fact, while it is important not to consider the lowland Classic Maya economic system as monolithic, it is also as critical to understand how it articulated with the different levels of social hierarchy. Beyond this, we should also make a point of understanding the roles these specific economic systems played in the distribution of utilitarian goods among the ancient Maya.

In this paper, we will address the role of centralized distribution of utilitarian goods in the ancient Maya economy. In other words, did elites mediate resource scarcity through centralized distribution when raw materials for utilitarian goods were absent? We compare cases of differentially distributed chert resources in northwestern Peten and western Belize to understand the impact of local availability and abundance of raw materials on elites’ role in resource distribution. We will address whether elites are less involved in the acquisition and distribution of utilitarian goods when raw materials are locally abundant than in cases where local raw materials are scarce.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Nuts and Bolts of the Real "Business" of Ancient Maya Exchange (Part 1)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage