Archaeological research on the past Maya has a lengthy history. While much research has focused on Maya political organization, the Classic period Maya did not record much information about economies, thus limiting the types of data we have to discuss past economic activities. This program explores past Maya economies from the viewpoint of stone tool producers, to see how their activities overlapped with political organization. Much like our modern economy, the Classic period Maya economy contained a mix of types of production activities and ways in which people acquired their tools.
This presentation draws on two distinct examples of tool producers, Classic period biface producers in the lowland Maya region and Postclassic obsidian blade production and distribution in the Maya highlands, to illustrate the role of stone tool producers in the broader economy and how economic and political networks overlapped. Small-scale stone tool producers operated mostly independently of political leaders, illustrating the variability in economic processes which occurred in the past.
I met Rachel on my Maya adventure to Belize last summer. She is Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, at Washington State University. Rachel is a real wonder woman and her recent paper on Belizean lithics was published by Cambridge University Press. I covered that paper in the April Aztlander. To subscribe to free monthly issues of The Aztlander e-magazine, contact host Jim Reed at mayaman@bellsouth.net
4 окт 2024
