A Lithic Approach to Economic Organization at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

Summary

Analysis of the production of imported lithic artifacts, especially obsidian and jade, has been important to recent research on the economic organization of the lowland Maya. However, the data for lithic production has come from a few key sites with clear evidence of workshops devoted to the working of such materials. Less attention has been dedicated to the diversity of obsidian and jade working within individual sites, much less across a given kingdom. This paper presents preliminary evidence for heterogeneity in obsidian and jade working in the kingdom of Piedras Negras, notable for being at the tail end in the exchange of obsidian, jade, and other imported lithic goods. The focus is especially on the diversity of production in household versus non-household areas, drawing comparisons with known market and production areas in Mexico and Guatemala, highlighting the connection with the subordinate center of Budsilha that yielded the best evidence to date for lithic production activities, to better understand regional economic dynamics. Macroscopic analyses are complemented by the results of XRF analysis.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20207