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

notching; and (3) bifaces that feature both pressure and indirect-percussion notching. The
observations used to create these types came from an analysis of the technology and
morphology of the cached eccentrics, and from replicative experiments. The goal of using
the general types proposed here is to track changes in the basic reduction strategies
through time. It is possible that each eccentric type may mark a specific reduction
strategy of a group of knappers. An eccentric form may be produced using a variety of
reduction strategies and techniques. Variation through time is discussed in Chapter 7.
5.5.1: Pressure-Notched Flake
This type of eccentric (Figure 5.9) required the least amount of knapping skill to
create. Nodule reduction flakes and biface-reduction flakes were modified with a
handheld pressure-flaker of some kind (e.g., antler, wood, or bone). This type usually is
12 cm or less in length, but larger examples made from extremely large, biface-reduction
flakes do exist. Notches often were created by removing flakes from only one face of the
flake-blank. However, some specimens show that a bifacial margin was created in the
removal of the notching flakes. In many cases, the flakes produced during this kind of
modification would not have a discrete morphology, but rather would appear as minute
pieces of shatter. While the technique itself is not difficult to master, the outline of the
piece may have required detailed measurements. Since most of the pressure-notched flake
eccentrics depict silhouettes of Classic Maya gods, and other elaborate naturalistic forms,
the creation of those forms would have required knowledge of ancient Maya artistic
standards.
191