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

period documents, charters other forms of craft specialization and helps define the social
role of nonroyal members of the community. This form of mythological charter has two
readily apparent effects: (1) it creates and concretizes social difference between disparate
social strata; and (2) it reinforces social cohesion by defining social roles and creating a
common connection between various individual world views in the community. Through
repetitive and periodically enacted social practices, myth is reaffirmed and made real to
the whole of the community.
The Popol Vuh reflects the connection between craft production and mythological
charter through its retelling of the gods first crafting of living things on earth: “It hasn’t
turned out our names have been named. Since we are their mason and sculptor this will
not do” (Tedlock 1996:67). Creator gods are called upon by the “Maker, Modeler”, to
create human beings out of mud, wood and corn: “So be it, fulfill your names: Hunahpu
Possum, Hunahpu Coyote, Bearer twice over, Begetter twice over, Great Peccary, Great
Coati, lapidary, jeweler, sawyer, carpenter, plate shaper, bowl shaper, incense maker,
master craftsman, Grandmother of Day, Grandmother of light” (Tedlock 1996:69).
Hence, many different forms of craft production are at the core of world creation
metaphor in Quiché world view (see also Reents-Budet 1998). Classic period
hieroglyphic writing indicates that similar metaphors were prevalent. The verb pat, which
means, “to form,” was used to describe the creation of gods and also ceramic vessels (see
potting as pat for the Yucatec Maya; [Clark and Houston 1998]). The verb tzutz, used
most extensively for describing the completion of long periods of time, also is the most
common verb used to describe the completion of a textile (Hruby and Robertson 2001).
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