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

political power at Copán. For Aoyama (2001), the significant scholarly divide existed
between opposing models of the Classic Maya state. Some researchers see the regional
state capitals as “the urban loci for administered economies,” while others believe Classic
Maya states had “weak economic functions and that their power was heavily based on
ideology” (Aoyama 2001:346). The distribution of cores to selected households in the
Copán region created, strengthened, and maintained political relations of subservience to
the Copán state.
Other studies suggest more centralized control of lithic economies. In the Petén
Lakes region, Aldenderfer (1991:138) found that higher levels of lithic production took
place near larger political centers than in their hinterlands. The systematic patterning of
obsidian artifacts was attributed to the control of its distribution (Aldenderfer 1991:139).
At Tikal a high degree of elite and royal interest was noted in both the distribution of
obsidian cores and in blade production (Moholy-Nagy 1989, 1997). Lithic evidence from
Tikal shows that nonceramic artifact production and use within a major Classic Maya city
was quite complex (Moholy-Nagy 1997). Moholy-Nagy (1997:308) viewed chipped-
stone production as closely tied to elite demand, and that there was a “more flexible
relationship between attached and independent production than is proposed in the
literature.” Royal or elite intervention in the distribution of obsidian has also been argued
for the Naco Valley (Ross 1997). However, the intended goal was not political
dominance through the control of production, but rather to “perpetuate social
inequalities” through the distribution of obsidian cores.
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