The Stromsvik Macroblade Cache from Copan, Honduras: A Symbolic Analysis

Summary

Among the myriad types of votive offerings created by the Classic Maya, many contain chipped-stone obsidian and flint materials. These caches often consist of debitage, cores, flakes, blades, and sometimes so-called "eccentrics", which are elaborately chipped ceremonial items that sometimes take the form of god effigies. The contexts of these deposits can include the stairways, centerlines, and corners of important structures, below stelae and other monuments, and in the center of royal or elite plazas. Classic Maya caches mark sacred space associated with the five directions as well as celestial bodies, especially the sun at equinoxes and solstices. The cache discussed here was one such cache of obsidian macroblades, flakes, sacrificial knives, and eccentrics. It also happens to be one of the largest obsidian caches in the Maya Lowlands, consisting of over five hundred obsidians and weighing over 166 kilograms. This presentation reviews the symbolic aspects of this unique ceremonial deposit from the Grand Plaza of Copan, which was excavated by Gustav Stromsvik.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Copan I: The Late Classic Period

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14532