The Implements of the Blade House: The Function and Symbolic Significance of Laurel-Leaf Bifaces from Caves in Central Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Large, finely made laurel-leaf chert bifaces have been recovered from the ancient Maya cave sites of Actun Chapat, Actun Tunichil Mucnal, Actun Yaxteel Ahau, and Je’reftheel, which are located in central Belize. By considering these laurel-leaf bifaces from the perspectives of lithic raw material, production techniques, symbolism, and use-wear, we seek to develop a better understanding of these artifacts as ritually significant objects recovered from subterranean locales. Analysis results indicate that most of these bifaces were made at Colha and traded in finished form throughout the eastern Maya Lowlands. Laurel-leaf bifaces share similar manufacturing techniques with large silhouette eccentrics and, like these, were symbols associated with the power of divine kings, lightning, and sacrifice. Such symbolic meanings also likely connect them to the deities Chaak and K’awiil, both of which demonstrate strong associations with caves. Use-wear analyses provide evidence that some of these bifaces were used for cutting meat and bone, supporting their use as knives in sacrifice. Combining our analyses with ethnohistoric and ethnographic data further assists in understanding laurel-leaf bifaces as both functional implements for and powerful symbols of sacrifice within the context of ancient Maya ideology and worldview.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32911