Artisanal Diversification or “Multi-crafting” as Economic Strategy among Upper-Class Extra-household Groups at Cotzumalhuapa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Urban Question: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Investigating the Ancient Mesoamerican City" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Various contexts in the sector of El Baúl, at the site of Cotzumalhuapa have been the subject of recent excavations to better understand the lithic industries of this urban center. These sectors were chosen for excavation due to the large surface scatters of lithic material indicating areas of obsidian tool production. At the epicenter of each surface scatter is a dump, indicated by the density and thickness of obsidian found at considerable depth. However, field observation and laboratory analysis has demonstrated that these dumps were not exclusively for obsidian. Certain materials incorporated in these dumps indicate a domestic nature and that the groups utilizing these dumps practiced “multi-crafting” as an economic strategy during the Late and Terminal Classic period (AD 650–950). The architectural context and ceramic materials recovered in these excavations suggests that these dumps pertained to groups of upper-class artisans.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Urban Question: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Investigating the Ancient Mesoamerican City   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32744