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

systematic sourcing program for microcrystalline materials is necessary to better
understand these routes of exchange.
Although obsidian source percentages are similar to other lowland sites, Piedras
Negras does feature a higher frequency of El Chayal than other tested sites. The Late
Classic, instead of the Early Classic as at Holmul, appears to have been a time of
increased obsidian importation at Piedras Negras, both in terms of variety and quality of
obsidian. It may be that Piedras Negras had a close exchange relationship with Tikal
during the Late Classic, at least in the exchange of chipped-stone goods, and possibly the
sharing of styles and reduction techniques. Chapter 7 elucidates some of the
technological and stylistic similarities between the obsidian eccentrics of Piedras Negras
and Tikal.
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