Maya Lithic and Metal Technologies in Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "“The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Over more than a century, archaeological research in Belize has contributed greatly to our understanding of past Maya stone and metal technologies. From the preceramic through the colonial periods (~11,000 BC−AD 1700), the analysis of flaked and ground stone tools recovered from excavations in Belize has provided critical insights into Maya subsistence and socioeconomic and ideological behavior, while incorporating studies about raw material sources, quarrying, tool production, trade and exchange, tool function, ritual, and symbolism. In contrast to the ubiquity and longevity of stone tools in the archaeological record of Belize, metal objects appear in small quantities and at select sites relatively late in time (ca. AD 1200/1250−1700). Metal never “replaced” stone at Maya sites, and because Belize has no known metallic ore deposits, copper-based ornaments rather than tools were either imported from elsewhere in Mesoamerica or they were produced by recycling metal objects that had been imported earlier in time. Here we provide an overview of the major themes addressed in lithic and metallurgical studies in Belize, with an emphasis on the contribution of lithic studies in Belize to understanding big picture questions about resource acquisition, tool use, and socioeconomic and ideological behaviors throughout the Maya region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• “The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37949.0