Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T12:26:55.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stone-Tool Production and Exchange in the Eastern Maya Lowlands: The Consumer Perspective from Pulltrouser Swamp, Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Patricia A. McAnany
Patricia A. McAnany*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ongoing controversy over the identification of mesoamerican centers as the locus for specialized production of stone tools is addressed by reference to a consumer locality in the eastern Maya Lowlands. Lithic data from Pulltrouser Swamp are used to shed light on the production intensity and scale of a distribution system centered at Colha, Belize. Debitage analyses of technological attributes, use wear, and metric dimensions contrast two contexts of lithic procurement at Pulltrouser Swamp: direct procurement of raw material and indirect procurement of finished tools. Each procurement context results in debitage with different variable states. Characterization of the Colha chert lithic material at Pulltrouser Swamp as a consumer assemblage is supported further by the results of a discriminant analysis in which an experimental "consumer" assemblage is classified with the Colha chert. Such characterizations of lithic assemblages are more robust methodologically and more informative substantively than attempts at the quantification of production or usage rates. The implications of scalar differences in production systems are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , April 1989 , pp. 332 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Reference Cited

Adams, R. E. W. 1982 Rank Size Analysis of Northern Belize Maya Sites. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize : The 1981 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Shafer, H. J., and Eaton, J. D., pp. 60-64. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia.Google Scholar
Clark, J. E. 1986 From Mountains to Molehills : A Critical Review of Teotihuacan's Obsidian Industry. In Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, B. L., pp. 23-74. Research in Economic Anthropology Supplement 2. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Eaton, J. D. 1982 Colha : An Overview of Architecture and Settlement. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize : The 1981 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Shafer, H. J., and Eaton, J. D., pp. 11-20. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia.Google Scholar
Frison, G. C. 1968 A Functional Analysis of Certain Chipped Stone Tools. American Antiquity 33 : 149–155.Google Scholar
Fry, R. E. 1980 Models of Exchange for Major Shape Classes of Lowland Maya Pottery. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Fry, R. E., pp. 3-18. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Gabriel, R. M., and Glavin, G. B. 1978 Multivariate Data Analysis in Empirical Research. The Pavlovian Journal of Biological Sciences 13(2) : 93–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, E. C. 1986 Diachronic Patterns of Lithic Production, Use, and Exchange in the Southern Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Goldstein, M., and Dillon, W. R. 1978 Discrete Discriminant Analysis. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1981 Settlement Patterns in Belize. In Lowland Maya Settlement Patterns, edited by Ashmore, W., pp. 157-186. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Healan, D. M. 1986 Technological and Nontechnological Aspects of an Obsidian Workshop Excavated at Tula, Hidalgo. In Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, B. L., pp. 133-152. Research in Economic Anthropology Supplement 2. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R. 1985 The Maya Lithic Sequence in Northern Belize. In Stone Tool Analysis : Essays in Honor of Don E. Crabtree, edited by Plew, M. G., Woods, J. C., and Pavesic, M. G., pp. 187-210. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R. Shafer, H. J., and Eaton, J. D. (editors) 1982 Archaeology at Colha, Belize : The 1981 Interim Report. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia.Google Scholar
Hirth, K. G. 1984 The Analysis of Prehistoric Economic Systems : A Look to the Future. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, K. G., pp. 281-302. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Isaac, B. L. 1986 Introduction. In Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, B. L., pp. 1-19. Research in Economic Anthropology Supplement 2. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Kelly, T. C. 1981 The Colha Regional Survey. In The Colha Project : Second Season, 1981 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D., and Shafer, H. J., pp. 51-69. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia.Google Scholar
Kelly, T. C. 1982 The Colha Regional Survey. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize : The 1981 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Shafer, H. J., and Eaton, J. D., pp. 85-97. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia.Google Scholar
Mallory, J. K. 1986 “Workshops” and “Specialized Production” in the Production of Maya Chert Tools : A Response to Shafer and Hester. American Antiquity 51 : 152–158.Google Scholar
Marcus, J. 1983 Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads. American Antiquity 48 : 454–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1986 Lithic Technology and Exchange among Wetland Farmers of the Eastern Maya Lowlands. Ph. D. dissertation, University of New Mexico. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1987 Kohunlich Chipped Stone Tools. Ms. in possession of author.Google Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1988 Effect of Lithic Procurement Strategies on Tool Curation and Recycling. Lithic Technology 17, in press.Google Scholar
Miksicek, C. H. 1983 Macrofloral Remains of the Pulltrouser Area : Settlements and Fields. In Pulltrouser Swamp : Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize, edited by Turner, B. L. II and Harrison, P. D., pp. 94-104. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Mitchum, B. A. 1986 Chipped Stone Artifacts. In Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America, vol. 1, edited by Robertson, R. A. and Freidel, D. A., pp. 105-115. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, H. 1983 The Flaked Chert Industry of Tikal, Guatemala. Paper presented at the Second Symposium on Lowland Maya Lithics, San Antonio, Texas.Google Scholar
Rands, R. L., and Bishop, R. L. 1980 Resource Procurement Zones and Patterns of Ceramic Exchange in the Palenque Region, Mexico. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Fry, R. E., pp. 19-46. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1987 Economic Change in the Lowland Maya Late Classic Period. In Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies, edited by Brumfiel, E. M. and Earle, T. K., pp. 76-85. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Roemer, E. Jr., 1982 Investigations at Four Lithic Workshops at Colha, Belize : 1981 Season. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize : The 1981 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., H. J. Shafer, and Eaton, J. D., pp. 75-84. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia.Google Scholar
Roemer, E. Jr., 1984 A Late Classic Maya Lithic Workshop at Colha, Belize. Unpublished master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T., and Santley, R. S. 1983 A Tale of Three Cities : Energetics and Urbanization in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. In Prehistoric Settlement Patterns : Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited by Vogt, E. Z. and Leventhal, R. M., pp. 243-291. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T., and Webster, D. 1978 Unilinealism, Multilinealism, and the Evolution of Complex Societies. In Social Archaeology : Beyond Subsistence and Dating, edited by Redman, C. L., Berman, M. J., Curtin, E. V., Langhorne, W. T. Jr., Versaggi, N. M., and Wanser, J. C., pp. 249-302. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Santley, R. S. 1984 Obsidian Exchange, Economic Stratification, and the Evolution of Complex Society in the Basin of Mexico. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, K. G., pp. 43-86. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
SAS Institute, Inc. 1985 SAS User's Guide : Statistics. Version 5 ed. SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1973 Lithic Technology at the George C Davis Site, Cherokee County, Texas. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1979 Belize Lithics : “Orange Peel” Flakes and Adze Manufacture. In Maya Lithic Studies : Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, T. R. and Hammond, N., pp. 21-34. Special Report No. 4. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1983 The Lithic Artifacts of the Pulltrouser Area : Settlements and Fields. In Pulltrouser Swamp : Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize, edited by Turner, B. L. II and Harrison, P. D., pp. 212-245. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J., and Hester, T. R. 1983 Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize, Central America. American Antiquity 48 : 519–543.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J., and Hester, T. R. 1986 Maya Stone-Tool Craft Specialization and Production at Colha, Belize : Reply to Mallory. American Antiquity 51 : 158–166.Google Scholar
Spence, M. W. 1984 Craft Production and Polity in Early Teotihuacan. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, K. G., pp. 87-114. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Tobey, M. H. 1986 Trace Element Investigations of Maya Chert from Belize. Papers of the Colha Project Vol. 1. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Turner, B. L. II, and Harrison, P. D. (editors) 1983 Pulltrouser Swamp : Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Wiseman, F. M. 1983 Analysis of Pollen from the Fields at Pulltrouser Swamp. In Pulltrouser Swamp : Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize, edited by Turner, B. L. II and Harrison, P. D., pp. 105-119. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar