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Obsidian Tool Function and Maya Lithic Economy at Terminal Classic Pook's Hill, Belize: Subsistence, Domestic Activities, and Craft Production

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2024

W. James Stemp Open the ORCID record for W. James Stemp [Opens in a new window] ,
Christophe Helmke ,
Geoffrey E. Braswell  and
Jaime J. Awe
W. James Stemp*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, Keene State College, Keene, NH, USA
Christophe Helmke
Affiliation:
Institute of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Geoffrey E. Braswell
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Jaime J. Awe
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
*
Corresponding author: W. James Stemp; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The typological, technological, and use-wear analyses of obsidian artifacts from Terminal Classic Pook's Hill (AD 830–950+) provide opportunities to better reconstruct socioeconomic activities in this plazuela group, including long-distance trade, tool production, subsistence practices, domestic tasks, and the organization of craft production. Based on visual sourcing, most of the obsidian originated from highland Guatemala, specifically El Chayal. The majority of obsidian artifacts were prismatic blades, although both casual and bipolar reduction of blade cores and the recycling of blades from earlier occupations occurred at the site. Use-wear analysis reveals that obsidian tools were mainly used for subsistence and domestic household activities; however, the concentrations of tools with specific wear patterns (bone, ceramic, plants, and shell) at some locations in the plazuela provide evidence for local craft production among the population. Further support for craft production is provided by comparable use-wear on chert/chalcedony tools from these same locations. The products of low-level craft production were used within Pook's Hill itself and may have been distributed to neighboring communities within the Roaring Creek and Upper Belize River Valleys. Despite the sociopolitical and socioeconomic disruptions to lifeways that accompanied the Terminal Classic period, the Pook's Hill Maya seem to have experienced minimal upheaval in their daily lives and continued local low-level craft production. However, one important change in the Terminal Classic appears to be the increased difficulty in obtaining obsidian at Pook's Hill and the growing need for tool recycling and raw material conservation.

Resumen

Resumen

Los análisis tipológicos, tecnológicos y de huellas de uso de los artefactos de obsidiana del Clásico Terminal de Pook's Hill (830–950+ dC), brindan oportunidades para reconstruir mejor las actividades socioeconómicas en este grupo plazuela, incluyendo el comercio a larga distancia, la producción de herramientas, las prácticas de subsistencia, las tareas domésticas y la organización de la producción artesanal. Según el identificación visual, la mayor parte de la obsidiana procedía de las tierras altas de Guatemala, específicamente del yacimiento de El Chayal. La mayoría de los artefactos de obsidiana eran navajas prismáticas, aunque en el sitio se encuentran tanto la reducción casual como la bipolar de los núcleos de obsidiana y las navajas recicladas de ocupaciones anteriores. El análisis de huellas de uso revela que las herramientas de obsidiana se utilizaron principalmente para actividades domésticas y de subsistencia. Sin embargo, las concentraciones de herramientas con patrones de uso específicos (hueso, cerámica, plantas y concha) en algunos lugares de la plazuela, evidencian la producción artesanal local entre la población. Las huellas de uso comparables de las herramientas de pedernal/calcedonia de estos mismos lugares corroboran la producción artesanal. Los productos de la elaboración artesanal se usaron dentro de Pook's Hill, mientras que otros probablemente se distribuyeron a las comunidades vecinas de Roaring Creek y la cuenca superior de Río Belice. A pesar de las perturbaciones sociopolíticas y socioeconómicas en los modos de vida que acompañaron al Clásico Terminal, los mayas de Pook's Hill parecen haber experimentado un trastorno mínimo en su vida diaria y continuaron la producción artesanal local de bajo rendimiento. Sin embargo, un cambio importante en el Clásico Terminal parece ser la mayor dificultad para obtener obsidiana en Pook's Hill y la creciente necesidad de reciclar herramientas y conservar materias primas.

Keywords

obsidianMayause-wearcraft productionhousehold archaeologyobsidianamayahuellas de usoproducción artesanalarqueología doméstica
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , September 2024 , pp. 731 - 751
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

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