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

The third and final spatial grouping includes residential groups excavated in the
near-periphery by Kovak and Webster. These residential groups tend to have qualitatively
different lithic samples, both in content and technology (see below). Since most of the
ceramics from the near-periphery excavations were not well preserved, it is unsure how
early settlement began in this area. A large proportion of the recognizable ceramics and
lithic deposits date to the Chacalhaaz phase, with only one lithic sample securely dated to
the Kumche phase. Of the residential groups excavated in the near-periphery, only RS26
and RS28 appear to have produced microcrystalline-quartz stone tools. These deposits
were dated to the Chacalhaaz phase, and only RS28 appears to document production
activities into Kumche times. The residential group named RS6 is the best example of a
lithic consumer with absolutely no evidence of production debitage in the excavations.
These microcrystalline-quartz artifacts were all heavily used and resharpened with a high
number of projectile- and spear-points, probably used in hunting and warfare activities.
To summarize the production data on microcrystalline-quartz artifacts, there does
not appear to be a great level of restricted production. The null hypothesis, that most
households were involved in the production of microcrystalline-quartz goods, holds
during the Late Classic at Piedras Negras. Except for some special deposits, such as the
biface-reduction flakes in Early Classic Burial 10, which probably is a royal tomb, and
the nodule fragments and shatter from the Early Classic R-5 Platform, there is no
evidence for Preclassic or Early-Classic production locations at the site. In PN20, which
is the same residential group as PN33, there is evidence of production activity during
Balche times, but this is the earliest direct evidence of household-based lithic production
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