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

eduction flakes found at the site (see Chapter 7). Another extremely coarse-grained
chert, may be more accurately characterized as dolomite or dolomitic limestone, which is
not a microcrystalline quartz. I classify this material as a microcrystalline quartz for the
present study, because I am unsure of its mineralogical composition. The locations of
these sources may be determined through further survey of the Middle Usumacinta region
and with a more systematic visual characterization of microcrystalline quartzes from
elsewhere in the Maya Lowlands.
In summary, the microcrystalline quartzes used at Piedras Negras can be
considered to have come from a potpourri of geological sources. They arrived at the site
in several different forms, and perhaps via several exchange systems. The Piedras Negras
Maya relied on their local materials, but also on the importation of nodules and finished
tools from other locales. Clearly, the inhabitants of Piedras Negras did not produce all of
their own chipped-stone tools, but production evidence from caches, burials, and
household contexts suggests that knappers did indeed work on-site. The distribution of
this production evidence is described in Chapter 7.
4.1.3: Morphology and Quantity of Chert Samples
According to replication studies and debitage found in the archaeological record,
chert nodules can produce (1) angular shatter of a small size; (2) mid-size chunks usable
for flake cores; and (3) the desired result: workable cobble sections and flakes used for
the three main tool systems found at the site. The common tool types are the celtiform
biface, medium-sized laurel leaf biface, and small laurel leaf biface (see Chapter 5). Most
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