The Impact of an Emergent Maya Polity on the Domestic Lithic Economy: A Perspective from the Hinterlands of Lower Dover, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Lithic tool production and use offers a way to understand domestic activities and how they developed in relation to broader socio-political changes. The Late Classic (AD 600-900) Maya polity of Lower Dover, Belize emerged in the midst of a densely occupied landscape, and this transition saw the incorporation of three autonomous communities – Tutu Uitz Na, Floral Park and Barton Ramie – into the polity as urban neighborhoods. The appearance of Lower Dover on the political landscape impacted lithic tool production and exchange at the household and neighborhood levels. By comparing the patterns of tool production and use in these three communities as they transitioned into Late Classic neighborhoods, we examine the ways commoner activities changed at the household and neighborhood level following the emergence of the Lower Dover polity. Preliminary research at the Tutu Uitz Na neighborhood indicates the establishment of a specialized chert workshop following the rise of Lower Dover. This poster builds on this research by comparing established patterns of lithic production and consumption at Tutu Uitz Na with data from the Barton Ramie and Floral Park neighborhoods.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25157