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

were reduced in the round throughout the use-life of the core. Furthermore, bullet cores
likely represent the reworking of exhausted flat or cylindrical cores, and not a separate
core reduction strategy. I discuss the relevant published replications of these techniques
and then submit my own technique, which is a good fit for the archaeological record at
Piedras Negras and possibly other lowland sites.
6.1.2: Previously Publications on Blade-Core Reduction Techniques and Blade
Cores at Piedras Negras
The first replicable blade-core reduction technique, which was substantiated by
the archaeological and ethnohistoric record, was carried out by Clark (1982) and has been
dubbed the Mexica technique. Titmus and Clark (2003) recently published a revised
version of this technique. The Mexica foot-held technique requires that knappers sit on
the ground and immobilize the core with their feet as lateral support. The blade-core is
planted with the distal end of the core into hard-packed soil, sometimes with a wooden
distal support for vertical stability (Titmus and Clark 2003:Figure 5.8). Finally, a long,
wooden pressure device is used with a combination of arm and upper-body strength to
remove blades from the core (see Clark 1982:Figure 8; Titmus and Clark 2003:Figure
5.8). The core is rotated after a series of blades is removed from the available surface
until it can no longer be held between the feet (i.e., core exhaustion) or the core was
destroyed (i.e., core death). The resulting core is worked by pressure on all sides of the
core and usually is cylindrical in cross section.
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