Bone, shell, and lithic evidence for crafting in elite Maya households at Aguateca, Guatemala (original) (raw)
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Ancient Mesoamerica, 2022
This study examines artifact production using lithic, animal bone, and shell materials at the lowland Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala, to explore the emergence and societal role of early crafting specialists. During the Middle Preclassic period (1000-350 b.c.), ancient Maya society went through a critical transition to sedentary settlements, including the development of large-scale monumental construction endeavors for ceremonial activities, increasingly nucleated settlement patterns, and the differential control of prestigious objects. Excavations across Ceibal recovered one of the largest Middle Preclassic assemblages of lithic and faunal material to date. We examine these materials in order to understand the nature of their manufacturing processes, the association between lithic production and bone/shell processing for meat and artifact production, and compare these activities with evidence from other Middle Preclassic sites and from the later Classic period. We find that Middle Preclassic middens are often disturbed or incorporated into later construction episodes over many generations, making the identification of such activities difficult, although not impossible, to identify archaeologically. Evidence for crafting is often found near ceremonial structures where Ceibal's early elite would have been present, suggesting that they were closely involved in the production process.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2009
This paper explores the nature of utilitarian bone-artifact crafting from the perspective of an unusual assemblage of manufacturing debitage dated to the Terminal Classic. This large assemblage contains unprecedented quantities of debris from the production of utilitarian artifacts, primarily bone perforators (needles, pins, awls). The collection was recovered from Group L4-3, a small, non-elite, Late and Terminal Classic residential complex located adjacent to the central palaces and residences of the ruling nobility of the ancient Maya site of Dos Pilas, Petexbatún, Guatemala. This study evaluates the standardization of raw materials, methods, and finished artifacts of the assemblage based on criteria used in discussions of scale of production and craft specialization. These evaluations are used to explore whether the L4-3 bone crafters were part-or full-time specialists, whether they produced their products on a large or a small scale and for domestic or external consumption, and for whom they crafted these products. The continuous occupation of the L4-3 complex through the transition from Late to Terminal Classic, a time of social change, offers a rich background for this evaluation of Maya utilitarian bone-artifact crafting.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2009
This paper explores the nature of utilitarian bone-artifact crafting from the perspective of an unusual assemblage of manufacturing debitage dated to the Terminal Classic. This large assemblage contains unprecedented quantities of debris from the production of utilitarian artifacts, primarily bone perforators (needles, pins, awls). The collection was recovered from Group L4-3, a small, non-elite, Late and Terminal Classic residential complex located adjacent to the central palaces and residences of the ruling nobility of the ancient Maya site of Dos Pilas, Petexbatún, Guatemala. This study evaluates the standardization of raw materials, methods, and finished artifacts of the assemblage based on criteria used in discussions of scale of production and craft specialization. These evaluations are used to explore whether the L4-3 bone crafters were part-or full-time specialists, whether they produced their products on a large or a small scale and for domestic or external consumption, and for whom they crafted these products. The continuous occupation of the L4-3 complex through the transition from Late to Terminal Classic, a time of social change, offers a rich background for this evaluation of Maya utilitarian bone-artifact crafting.
Mayab, 2000
Extensive excavations of rapidly abandoned structures at the Classic Maya center of Aguateca have provided rich assemblages of complete and reconstructible objects. A particularly interesting result is the presence of objects related to scribal and artistic production in all rapidly abandoned elite residences that have been excavated. Although evidence of such activities is difficult to detect in gradually abandoned structures, researchers need to consider the possibility that a significant portion of elites engaged in scribal and artistic work in their houses.
The Life of Worked Bone: Preclassic and Classic Maya Faunal Remains from Procurement to Disposal
The complex society of the Maya developed major city centers throughout Guatemala and Belize and into parts of Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador. During the Preclassic (1200 BC – AD 300), the ancient Maya underwent major social and political changes that affected many aspects of their daily life. From these changes, emerged a highly-stratified society with extensive trade connections, hieroglyphics, and power structures that visually and physically separated the general public from elites in the Classic (AD 300 – AD 900) period. Though the Classic period is commonly researched, to truly understand how the Maya developed into these independent political city centers, thorough research needs to be conducted within the formative period of the Preclassic. Previous investigations of the ancient Maya usually focus around architecture, ceramics, and burials, however faunal remains and bone artifacts can also provide valuable information on their culture. Bone artifacts are of interest here due to their understudied nature and how their different functions determined who used them, which in turn, influenced where they are eventually found. Understanding the role that bone artifacts play within this formative period can allow archaeologists to recognize craft specialization development and how these artifacts, through creation, usage, and ownership, established further stratification. An intensive study of several faunal assemblages will be conducted to determine potential trends of crafting, use, and disposal of bone artifacts. This research will span several sites across the Maya world, deriving material from both the Preclassic and Classic periods, with emphasis on their distribution, manufacture, context, typology, and use-wear. The results will help to establish if craft specialization is occurring within the Preclassic, and how these items can be used as determinates of class. The disposal of these artifacts can also impact our understanding of how a site is used; with various areas for workshops, part-time local productions, and/or as burials interred with faunal artifacts. Lastly, the relationship between art and tools can be explored through their faunal representations at these sites, and if they each played an equal role in the identification of social classes.
STANDARDIZED LITHIC TECHNOLOGY AND CRAFTING AT THE “GATEWAY GROUP” FROM CARACOL, BELIZE: IMPLICATIONS FOR MAYA HOUSEHOLD ARCHAEOLOGY, 2014
Households make up the bulk of the ancient Maya archaeological record. These are the historical places where the Maya lived, reproduced, remembered, and worked, thus archaeologists can analyze the artifacts of what peoples did at their living groups. This paper presents and analyzes one of only a few case studies of small chert tools or "drills" from the Maya lowlands to identify what ancient peoples did and possibly infer their potential impact at the local scale. Lithic data from the "Gateway Group" at Caracol, Belize, located approximately 300m southeast of Caana, Caracol's largest structure, and the Conchita Causeway yielded a highly standardized tool assemblage. These data in conjunction with other investigated assemblages enable discussions of the organization of intensive localized lithic and non-lithic craft production. I conclude by describing the importance of this research on how archaeologists might draw relational connections between households using standardization studies and thereby consider the technical learning, sharing, and doing that took place between ancient Maya residences.
Chert Tool Production and Exchange at Two Late Postclassic Coastal Maya Households
Chert tool production and exchange has long been studied for the Maya Preclassic to Terminal Classic Periods of Northern Belize (1000 B.C.-A.D. 950). It is increasingly clear that lithic systems of production and exchange were an integral part of the economic environment for this region, yet lithic research pertaining to the Maya Postclassic Period (A.D. 950-1530) is not well represented in the general literature. A recent examination of 110 chert, chalcedony, and obsidian small side-notched projectile points and point preforms, as well as 2,163 pieces of associated production debitage from two Late Postclassic households at Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, has yielded the identification of two lithic craft production areas. Examination of the complete lithic collection from these residences, as well as an additional 176 projectile points located throughout the site, reveals the need for new models of lithic production and exchange for this region during the Postclassic Period.