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

commonplace (cf. Childs 1998). Ritualized production is not necessarily a constant part
of crafting practice but may be employed periodically during particularly important times
of the year (ibid:115).
The melding of craft production with religious ceremony and ritual can have a
profound effect on how personhood and identity is developed and, in part, shapes the way
the economy is structured. Ritualized production is one possible means to exclude others
in society from access to the esoteric knowledge necessary to carry out certain forms of
production (see Childs 1998; Herbert 1984; and Schmidt 1997), but it also may be key in
passing down production knowledge to the next generation (Clark 1989). Research on
textile production in the Andes conducted by Thomas Patterson, for example, revealed
the importance of ideology in guarding esoteric production knowledge (personal
communication 2001). In this case, ritual and ceremony do not mask economic realities,
but are a real factor in economic organization. Ideologically-loaded forms of craft
production also can be embodied experiences that give meaning to life and community
(Dobres 2000).
Specialized craft production in many contexts shows that crafting is often
ritualized, and that the goods produced have a significant role in society. The many
metallurgical practices in Africa with symbolic and ritual natures (e.g., Childs 1998;
Childs and Dewey 1996; Herbert 1984) provide a substantial body of information to
discuss ritualized production. Herbert (1984) emphasized the unique social role of master
smiths in these contexts, where the smith is viewed as apart from the rest of society:
“feared, revered, despised smiths are separate from the rest of mankind by the nature of
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