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

temples in the West Group Plaza, which foreshadowed the architectural construction
patterns of his children (Houston et al. 2001).
According to Muñoz (2001:Section 04), Piedras Negras ceramic change during
Balche times “appear[s] to be the result of diversification of vessel form and decorative
modes as influence from the Central Petén wanes and Piedras Negras begins to develop
into the primary site and major political power for the region.” While this is the case for
the ceramic traditions of Piedras Negras, lithic and technological data suggest that there
was an intense and close relationship with the Central Petén during and after the Balche
phase. Microcrystalline quartz and obsidian eccentrics from Piedras Negras resemble
those from Tikal. In some cases they are symbolically and technologically identical to
Tikal eccentrics, including stylistic details. Although Piedras Negras may have been
autonomous with respect to lithic traditions during the Early Classic, Tikal and Uaxactun
must have directly influenced their Late Classic caching practices during the “hiatus”
period.
The style and placement of stelae during the Late Classic period indicate that the
figures on these monuments were meant to address the public, perhaps as effigies. Ruler
2, Ruler 3, Ruler 4, and probably Ruler 5, Ruler 6 ( Ha’ K’in Xok) and Ruler 7 all erected
their stelae in front of the burial mounds of their fathers. In the case of R-5, Ruler 2
placed his monuments in front of the probable tomb of Ruler 1. The monuments erected
for Ruler 1also are in the South Group suggesting that his ancestors, or de facto
ancestors, had made pyramids and had been buried in that same spot (Stone 1989). Ruler
2 made the South Group even more personal, however, by placing his stelae in plain view
69