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

core. Nevertheless, wide pressure facets, in combination with percussion scars, indicate
that the blade came off earlier rather than later in the reduction process.
Third-series blades, or prismatic blades, are blades with only pressure scars on the
dorsal surface (Figure 6.12). Third-series blades, which are often seen to be the primary
or intended product of blade-core reduction, tend not to be markers for any specific
blade-core configuration because they feature no remnant flake scars of previous core
modifications. Some examples of third-series blades feature a canted platform, suggesting
that the platform of the core was, at times, also canted (i.e., the platform of the blade is
not perpendicular to the pressure scars on the dorsal surface of the blade). It is likely that
these blades were removed from the side of the core. Furthermore, late third-series blades
with small, closely spaced pressure facets are found with percussion scars or even cortex
on a single margin of the blade. This pattern suggests that some blade cores at the site
were not reduced in the round from early stages of core reduction. Although these blades
should technically be identified as second-series blades according to the Clark and Bryant
typology, they are more of an indicator core reduction on only one or more sides of the
core than of an early stage of blade-core reduction.
6.3.1: Blade Production and Core Rejuvenation at Piedras Negras
Once the core was prepared it was positioned according to one of the
immobilization techniques described above. Although this process could have been a
one-person operation, assistants could have helped by repositioning the core, preparing
platforms, and maintaining a proper tip on the bit of the pressure device. Since most
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