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

point because it retains the general morphology of a dart point, but is much too large to
function as such.
During and after the reign of Ruler 1 the stelae tradition continued at a great pace
at Piedras Negras. Stelae were often associated with column altars (Figure 3.3), which
also were loci of cache deposition. Although similar eccentric forms were used
throughout the Late Classic caches, changes in technology and cache composition
occurred after the death of Ruler 4. After the death of Ruler 7, the last known k’uhul ajaw
at the site, cache content changed once again (see Chapter 7), and column altars appear to
have been used in different ways, disassociated from stelae.
Once Rulers 5, 6 and 7 began to focus their ritual attention on Pyramid O-13 in a possible
attempt to demonstrate their connection to Ruler 4, the caching ritual changed
substantially. The changes in the technologies used to make obsidian eccentrics during
this time also occur at Tikal, suggesting that shifts in local politics may not have been the
only force driving these changes (Hruby 2005). The 57 caches found in the O-13 Pyramid
undoubtedly were deposited under the reigns of all three of the latter kings, and possibly
after. However, these caches and their contents are all similar to each other in form and
content. In terms of elite caching traditions examined by Coe (1959) and earlier
archaeologists, three general periods of eccentric production and deposition can be
delineated. These three periods can be divided into early (Naba phase), middle (Balche,
Yaxche, and early Chacalhaaz phase), and late (Early Chacalhaaz, Late Chacalhaaz, and
Kumche). The caching traditions can then be separated by symbolic and technological
content, and there is a rough correlation that occurs with the stelae that accompany them.
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