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

historical connection to previous inhabitants of Piedras Negras was. It is possible that
some Piedras Negras families with a long history of living in the city maintained their
households, and, thus, may not be properly characterized as “squatters” (cf. Muñoz and
Golden 2005).
7.2.1.2: Obsidian distributional data. The obsidian production evidence from the
acropolis group came almost entirely from the PN46 excavations. No significant evidence
of production was found in PN11, and PN54, which had a small lithic sample, did not
produce a full range of production debitage. PN 46, however, features a relatively
substantial obsidian artifact sample, which dates to the Yaxche and Chacalhaaz phases.
The residential group of the PN46 excavations was an obsidian-blade producer from the
Yaxche to the Chacalhaaz phase, but not into the Kumche phase. They were using
obsidian on the acropolis, however, until the site was abandoned (Muñoz and Golden
2005).
The second spatial group, residential groups in the city center, also contains
evidence of the production of obsidian goods. In the northern portion of the site, PN26
and PN41 feature little obsidian-blade production evidence. PN26, which only was not
thoroughly excavated, appears to have been a possible production locale during the
Chacalhaaz phase, but there are too few obsidian artifacts to state this with confidence.
PN 41 yielded a relatively large number of obsidian artifacts, especially during the
Chacalhaaz phase, but the lack of much production debitage make it unclear whether this
residential group was involved in blade production. If blade production did occur here, it
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