Residential Limestone Quarrying As An Ancient Maya Craft Production Activity.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Toolstone and Mineral Geography Across Time and Space" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This presentation will focus on limestone quarrying activities in the Classic Maya (600-1000 CE) city of Ake, in present-day Yucatan, Mexico. Although often characterized as an unskilled activity, limestone quarrying required training, skill, and a specialized tool kit. The skills and specialized knowledge of ancient Maya quarry workers enabled them to identify and exploit specific qualities and types of limestone materials for construction projects. This craft production activity allowed the creation of both prestige and utilitarian items used as part of the built environment in ancient Maya communities. By conducting an analysis of 72 domestic limestone quarries, and focusing on data recovered from the excavation of one of these quarries, as well as ethnographic information, this presentation will demonstrate that residential limestone quarries were active settings where individuals produced construction materials at the household level. This paper will contribute to our understanding of ancient Maya production activities and the implementation of Indigenous knowledge at domestic settings.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Toolstone and Mineral Geography Across Time and Space   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53706