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

CHAPTER 3
PREVIOUS AND PRESENT RESEARCH AT PIEDRAS NEGRAS
3.1: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND HISTORY AT PIEDRAS NEGRAS
3.1.1: Lithic Research
Excavations carried out in Petén, Guatemala, by the University of Pennsylvania in
the 1930s (Coe 1959; Proskouriakoff 1960; Satterthwaite 1943, 1954), and more recently
by the Piedras Negras Project (Escobedo and Houston 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001; Houston
et al. 1998, 1999, 2000a, 2000b), provide a sample of lithic artifacts and contextual
information that cross-cuts temporal and spatial boundaries. The combined lithic samples
are unique because they represent the largest systematically-collected sample from the
western lowlands, and also the second largest sample of eccentrics made from
microcrystalline quartz and obsidian materials (second to Tikal, Guatemala). In recent
excavations at Piedras Negras, most of the major residential groups in the site core and in
the near periphery have been thoroughly sampled, and many have been excavated
extensively (e.g., Kovak and Webster 1999). In addition to these nonroyal household
deposits, lithic samples from temples and palaces provide excellent information from
royal contexts (e.g., Garrido 1999; Golden and Pellecer 1999). Seven new caches have
also been discovered, all of which contain lithic artifacts, especially microcrystalline
quartz and obsidian eccentrics (e.g., Escobedo and Zamora 1999). These new discoveries,
however, were preceded by many years of excavation conducted by the University of
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