The Organization of Chipped-Stone Economies at Piedras Negras ...

symbolic value of the object derived from its form and material, but also from the
knapper who produced it and the cultural capital he or she possessed. Thus, there should
be a tight correlation between the technologies used to create chipped-stone goods and
the symbolism of the chipped-stone goods themselves. Since cache and burial goods,
such as microcrystalline quartz and obsidian eccentrics, probably were the most
symbolically rich type of chipped-stone goods, they are the primary sample used to test
this hypothesis. However, I also examine, as much as possible, the contexts in which
eccentric production debitage was found in general excavations. Aside from citing the
obvious symbolic potency of cache goods, I take a technological approach to test the idea
that certain lithic techniques were ideologically loaded and cannot be explained by mere
economic efficiency (see Dobres 2001). As previously mentioned in the theory section
(Chapter 2), the goal of testing this hypothesis is to examine the intersection between
local ideologies and economics, but also to determine how the practice of lithic
technology may have played a role in determining the value of the finished products.
3.4: SUMMARY
The long, well-recorded history and archaeology of Piedras Negras provides an
opportunity to examine the organization of lithic production at a large Maya center.
Previous studies have been key for understanding the cache and burial traditions at
Piedras Negras, but new analyses performed here, as well as newly excavated deposits,
shed light on how those goods were produced. This study takes one step further in
examining production and consumption patterns throughout all contexts of the city.
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