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

emergent craft ideologies, and an opportunity for social success in Classic Maya society.
Although knappers likely were tied to specific households, the oficio describes a different
kind of organization that allows craft specialists from different, possibly competing
households, to come together, share information, and possibly work together on large
projects (e.g., the production of large caches, burials, or arms for an upcoming war).
Of course, there is an inherent risk in using postconquest concepts to interpret the
Precolombian archaeological record. Oficio could have been a Spanish attempt to
categorize and structure Maya society in ways that did not reflect Precolombian forms of
social organization. On the other hand, oficio could have been a Spanish translation of a
Maya concept, which was not recorded in contact period documents. In either case, the
concept describes an organizational principle that existed at the time of Spanish contact,
and appears to have existed in some form during the Classic period. The emphasis on
occupational titles in ancient Maya writing is a good example of the structural importance
of occupation, especially craft specialization. I believe the oficio concept remains useful
for framing the relationship between craft producers, their practice, and society.
At Piedras Negras, chert and obsidian eccentrics usually were made of debitage
(i.e., biface-reduction flakes, exhausted blade-cores, and percussion blades). Royal
caches, burials, and temple constructions often contain other forms of debitage that
derived from the production of bifaces and blades. In one royal tomb, Burial 10 at Piedras
Negras, two finished bifaces were deposited on a basket or gourd of biface-reduction
flakes probably removed in their manufacture. Furthermore, these royal deposits contain
as much or more debitage than any other context in the site. Obsidian materials represent
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