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

and probably did, have multiple occupations. Some of these occupations are directly
connected to high status positions that were often inherited, but others crosscut status
boundaries, and chipped-stone specialization may have been one of these occupations
(see Section 2.2 for a full explanation).
Finally, the model proposed by McAnany does not entirely account for how new
households were created. New households and lineages were begun in previously
unsettled areas (McAnany 1992:86), or living family members inherited old households.
As we know from the glyphs, however, lineages were often replaced, even at the dynastic
level, and how this was accomplished is not well known. Usurping foreign dynasties and
pretenders to inheritance are often used as explanations, but internal political shifts also
played a significant role in the transfer of power when the inheritance system broke
down. This eventuality undoubtedly happened in the case of dead lineages, but
competition for land also likely occurred in other ways. How were these politics played
out in creation of new households, lineages, and dynasties? I propose that one locus for
social change, competition, and the legitimization of land ownership could be occupation;
the prominence of scribes at Copán and chert-workers at Colhá are a few examples of
how occupation can lead to social success. One way of legitimizing one’s craft as socially
significant is by emphasizing the ideological origins and religious nature of that craft (see
Section 2.3). I am not proposing a Mesoamerican version of the European guild system
here, but the analogy points out some possible bonds between members of a particular
craft oficio, and how those bonds could have been a source of socio-economic power (see
Section 2.4).
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