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

e interpreted as being structurally similar, their symbolic content appears to have
differed.
At around A.D. 603 the site once again began a new and ambitious building
program that leveled much of the Early Classic architecture, save the pyramids and a
sweat bath in the South Group (Child 1997; Garrido 1998, 1999, 2001; Golden 1998;
Houston et al. 1999, 2000). The residents of Piedras Negras dismantled most of the Early
Classic construction in the West Group Plaza and in the early acropolis to create vast
plazas and bulk up the acropolis for larger, more elaborate royal living quarters. This shift
in construction can largely be attributed to the first two Late Classic rulers of the center:
Ruler 1 9 and Ruler 2, or Yo’nal Ahk and Itzam K’an Ahk (Houston 1983; Martin and
Grube 2000; Proskouriakoff 1960). According to hieroglyphic texts, a dynasty of seven
consecutive Late Classic kings ruled the site up until the collapse of the city, including
the earliest, Ruler 1, to the last, Ruler 7. The Late Classic kings produced one of the most
extensive historical records in the New World, and their history provides a detailed
background for artifact analysis.
The transition between Early and Late Classic times began with the Balche
ceramic phase, during the middle of which Ruler 1 acceded to the throne and started his
reign. It is clear that he did not introduce the panel, stelae, or column altar styles of
monument erection, but he certainly formalized the burgeoning stela complex at Piedras
Negras. Furthermore, Ruler 1 established the frontal style pose for stela monuments, and
continued to depict Teotihuacan-style regalia. Although Ruler 1 continued the ancestral
burial cult in the South Group, he also began construction of the K-5 pyramid and other
68