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

as a potpourri of symbols and reduction techniques, which suggests that a number of
knappers are involved in their creation.
The shift from Balche phase symbolism to Yaxche phase conservatism, and
ultimately to Terminal Classic (Chacalhaaz phase) elaboration, suggests that there was
indeed tension or contestation in the production of obsidian cache goods through time.
Political changes, marked by the accession of rulers, appear to have had an effect on how
cache goods were produced, a situation that drew obsidian crafters into a contested field
of production. Around A.D. 750 (Chacalhaaz phase) population also rose dramatically at
Piedras Negras and there was a corresponding rise in the number of obsidian production
locales at the site (Hruby 2005). According to increased cache size and quantities of
obsidian at the site, it appears that more obsidian was imported to Piedras Negras during
Chacalhaaz times. Thus, a number of political, economic, and demographic forces may
have created heightened competition between obsidian workers.
The changes in obsidian-eccentric production cannot be characterized as simple
differences of aesthetic taste. The implications of symbolic and technological change
through time suggest that different groups of artisans were responsible for producing
cache goods for each period. Alternatively, the stability of technological practice for the
early Late Classic indicates that particular groups of obsidian specialists maintained a
specific ideology of craft production that was dominant for 150 years. The transition to
the Terminal Classic shows that original groups of eccentric producers may have relayed
certain elements of obsidian symbolism to the next group, but the dominance of their
technological practice diminished. The fact that the notched flake and blade eccentrics
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