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

analyses suggest that the Piedras Negras polity was established during the Late Preclassic
and possibly before, but the only Preclassic architecture found at the site can be securely
dated to the Late Preclassic (Child and Child 2001; Escobedo and Zamora 1999, 2001a,
2001b; Forsyth and Hruby 1997; Muñoz 1999). The size of the Preclassic architecture in
the South Group Plaza suggests that some of the structures during this period were used
for ceremonial purposes and that there was some form of centralized governance in effect
(Child and Child 2001; Escobedo and Zamora 2001b).
Excavation during the 2000 season, which focused on the South Group Plaza,
produced the only substantial sample of artifacts from the Preclassic and Protoclassic
periods. These deposits represent one of the only collections of Preclassic artifacts from
the Middle Usumacinta region, and the lithic sample is unfortunately dwarfed by the
relatively high quantities of ceramics. No lithic caches were found dating to the
Preclassic period, but a lip-to-lip cache from the Late Preclassic (Abal phase) was found
in the South Group Plaza (Castellanos 1997:42; Muñoz 2003). Low numbers of
Protoclassic, or transitional Pom phase, sherds are the only evidence of an occupation at
Piedras Negras for that time period (Forsyth and Hruby 1997; Muñoz 1999, 2001).
The first strong evidence of widespread monumental architecture, hieroglyphic
texts, and large-scale occupation at the site occurred in the Early Classic or Naba phase
(A.D. 350-560) (Proskouriakoff 1960; Satterthwaite 1943). Identifying the early rulers is
somewhat problematic because few well-preserved Early Classic monuments have been
discovered and Early Classic tombs and burials (Child and Child 2001) did not contain
legible hieroglyphic texts. However, three or four kings, depending on the epigraphic
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