Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:04:33.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Elite Artists and Craft Producers in Classic Maya Society: Lithic Evidence from Aguateca, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kazuo Aoyama*
Affiliation:
Ibaraki University, Bunkyo 2-1-1, Mito, Ibaraki, 310-8512, Japan ([email protected])
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This report examines 10,845 lithic artifacts from the rapidly abandoned city of Aguateca, Guatemala, to elucidate elite artistic and craft production in Classic Maya society. The methods used include high-power microwear analysis. The results suggest that significant numbers of Maya elite, both men and women, engaged in artistic creation and craft production, often working in both attached and independent contexts. The royal family and other elite households produced many artistic and craft items, including wood carvings and hide or leather goods. The scribe inhabiting Structure M8-8 carved stelae for the ruler, and the high-status courtier/scribe living in Structure M8-4 emphasized the production of shell and bone objects and other royal regalia in a courtly setting. Clearly, Aguateca was a center of part-time production of both utilitarian and luxury goods as well as of consumption. Classic Maya elite men and women artists/craft producers possessed multiple social identities and roles, which in turn implies a more flexible and integrated system of Classic Maya elite participating in attached and independent craft production more than is usually proposed.

Resumen

Resumen

Estudiamos 10.845 artefactos líticos provenientes de la ciudad de Aguateca, Guatemala, que fue rápidamente abandonada, con el fin de analizar la producción artística y artesanal de las élites en la sociedad maya clásica. Entre los métodos empleados se usó el análisis de microhuellas de uso de alta resolución. Los resultados sugieren que una porción significativa de la élite maya, tanto hombres como mujeres, se dedicó a la creación artística y producción artesanal, trabajando frecuentemente en contextos de producción tanto dependiente como independiente. La familia real y otros grupos familiares de las élites produjeron muchas artesanías, incluyendo las de madera y cuero. El escribano de la Estructura M8-8 esculpió estelas para el gobernante, y el cortesano/escribano de alto rango de la Estructura M8-4 enfatizó la producción de objetos de concha y hueso con alto valor simbólico real en la corte. Claramente, la ciudad de Aguateca fue un centro de producción, de tiempo parcial, de bienes utilitarios y lujosos como de consumo. Los artistas/artesanos de las élites tuvieron múltiples roles e identidades sociales, lo que implica la presencia de un sistema más flexible e integrado en las élites mayas clásicas, con una mayor particapción en la producción dependiente e independiente que la usualmente propuesta.

Type
Articles
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2007. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

References

References Cited

Aldenderfer, Mark 1991 Functional Evidence for Lapidary and Carpentry Craft Specialties in the Late Classic of the Central Petén Lakes Region. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:205214.Google Scholar
Aldenderfer, Mark, Kimball, Larry, and Sievert, April 1989 Microwear Analysis in the Maya Lowlands: The Use of Functional Data in a Complex-Society Setting. Journal of Field Archaeology 16:4760.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 1989 Estudio Experimental de las Huellas de Uso sobre Material Lítico de Obsidiana y Sílex. Mesoamérica 17:185214.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 1994 Socioeconomic Implications of Chipped Stone from the La Entrada Region, Western Honduras. Journal of Field Archaeology 21:133145.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 1995 Microwear Analysis in the Southeast Maya Lowlands: Two Case Studies at Copán, Honduras. Latin American Antiquity 6:129144.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 1999 Ancient Maya State, Urbanism, Exchange, and Craft Specialization: Chipped Stone Evidence from the Copán Valley and the La Entrada Region, Honduras. University of Pittsburgh Memoirs in Latin American Archaeology No. 12, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 2001a Ritos de Plebeyos Mayas en la Cueva Gordon No. 3 de Copán (Honduras) durante el Período Clásico: Análisis de las Microhuellas de Uso sobre la Lítica Menor de Obsidiana. Mayab 14:516.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 2001b Classic Maya State, Urbanism, and Exchange: Chipped Stone Evidence of the Copán Valley and Its Hinterland. American Anthropologist 103:346360.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 2005 Classic Maya Warfare and Weapons: Spear, Dart and Arrow Points of Aguateca and Copán. Ancient Mesoamerica 16:291304.Google Scholar
Ardren, Traci (editor) 2002 Ancient Maya Women. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Becker, Marshall 1973 Archaeological Evidence for Occupational Specialization among the Classic Period Maya at Tikal, Guatemala. American Antiquity 38:396406.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E., Clark, John E., Aoyama, Kazuo, McKillop, Heather I., and Glascock, Michael D. 2000 Determining the Geological Provenance of Obsidian Artifacts from the Maya Region: A Test of the Efficacy of Visual Sourcing. Latin American Antiquity 11:269282.Google Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth M., and Earle, Timothy K. 1987 Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies: An Introduction. In Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies, edited by Elizabeth Brumfiel and Timothy Earle, pp. 19. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1988 The Lithic Artifacts of La Libertad, Chiapas, Mexico: An Economic Perspective. Papers No. 52. New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1977 Supernatural Patrons of Maya Scribes and Artists. In Social Process in Maya Prehistory: Essays in Honor of Sir Eric Thompson, edited by Norman Hammond, pp. 327349. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D., and Kerr, Justin 1997 The Art of the Maya Scribe. Harry N. Abrams, New York.Google Scholar
Costin, Cathy 2001 Craft Production Systems. In Archaeology at the Millennium: A Source Book, edited by Gary M. Feinman and T. Douglas Price, pp. 273327. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.Google Scholar
Emery, Kitty, and Aoyama, Kazuo 2007 Bone, Shell and Lithic Evidence for Crafting in Elite Maya Households at Aguateca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 18, in press.Google Scholar
Fash, William 1991 Scribes, Warriors, and Kings: The City of Copán and the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Haviland, William 1974 Occupational Specialization at Tikal, Guatemala: Stoneworking-Monument Carving. American Antiquity 39:494496.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 1996 Archaeological Approaches to the Organization of Domestic Labor: Household Practice and Domestic Relations. Annual Review of Anthropology 25:4561.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen 2000 Into the Minds of Ancients: Advances in Maya Glyph Studies. Journal of World Prehistory 14:121201.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 1997 The Last Day of a Fortified Classic Maya Center: Archaeological Investigations at Aguateca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:337351.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2001 The Power and Ideology of Artistic Creation: Elite Craft Specialists in Classic Maya Society. Current Anthropology 42:321349.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2003 War, Destruction, and Abandonment: The Fall of the Classic Maya Center of Aguateca, Guatemala. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Takeshi Inomata and Ronald W. Webb, pp. 4360. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Stiver, Laura R. 1998 Floor Assemblages from Burned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala: A Study of Classic Maya Households. Journal of Field Archaeology 25:431–152.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Ponciano, Erick, Pinto, Estela, Terry, Richard E., and Eberl, Markus 2002 Domestic and Political Lives of Classic Maya Elites: The Excavation of Rapidly Abandoned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 13:305330.Google Scholar
Johnston, Kevin J. 2001 Broken Fingers: Classic Maya Scribe Capture and Polity Consolidation. Antiquity 75:373381.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary 2000 Gender and Power in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Kaneko, Akira 1998 La Pequeña Acropolis de Yaxchilan, Chiapas. In XI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, edited by Juan Pedro Laporte and Héctor L. Escobedo, pp. 261270. Ministerio de Cultura y Turismo, Instituto de Antropologíae Historia, and Asociación Tikal, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Keeley, Lawrence H. 1980 Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses: A Microwear Analysis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Levi-Sala, Irene 1986 Use Wear and Post-Depositional Surface Modification: A Word of Caution. Journal of Archaeological Science 13:229244.Google Scholar
Lewenstein, Suzanne M. 1987 Stone Tool Use at Cerros. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Lewenstein, Suzanne M. 1991 Woodworking Tools at Cerros. In Maya Stone Tools, edited by Thomas R. Hester and Harry Shafer, pp. 239249. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Miller, Mary, and Taube, Karl 1993 An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1997 Middens, Construction Fill, and Offerings: Evidence for the Organization of Classic Period Craft Production at Tikal, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 24:293313.Google Scholar
Reents-Budet, Dorie 1994 Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Serizawa, Chosuke, Kajiwara, Hiroshi, and Akoshima, Kaoru 1982 Jikken Shiyokon Kenkyu to Sono Kanosei [Experimental Study of Microwear Traces and its Potentiality]. Kokogaku to Shizenkagaku 14:6787 (in Japanese with an English summary). Tokyo.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1983 Chipped Stone from the Zapotitan Valley. In Archaeology and Volcanism in Central America: The Zapotitan Valley of El Salvador, edited by Payson Sheets, pp. 195223. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 2000 Provisioning the Cerén Household: The Vertical Economy, Village Economy, and Household Economy in the Southeastern Maya Periphery. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:217230.Google Scholar
Sievert, April K. 1990 Postclassic Maya Ritual Behavior: Regional Microwear Analysis of Stone Tools from Ceremonial Contexts. Aun 14:147158.Google Scholar
Sievert, April K. 1992 Maya Ceremonial Specialization: Lithic Tools from the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael 1984 Craft Production and Polity in Early Teotihuacan. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Kenneth Hirth, pp. 87114. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Stemp, William J. 2001 Chipped Stone Tool Use in the Maya Coastal Economies of Marco Gonzales and San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize. BAR International Series No. 935. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Stemp, William J. 2004 Maya Coastal Subsistence and Craft-Production at San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize: The Lithic Use-Wear Evidence. Lithic Technology 29(1):3373.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 1993 Historical Inscriptions and the Maya Collapse. In Lowland Maya Civilization in the Eighth Century A.D., edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff and John S. Henderson, pp. 321354. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Vaughan, Patrick 1985 Use-Wear Analysis of Flaked Stone Tools. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar