Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-lpg2g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T21:16:41.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prismatic Blademaking, Craftsmanship, and Production

An analysis of obsidian refuse from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

John E. Clark
John E. Clark
Affiliation:
New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Artifacts from an obsidian-blade workshop dump from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico, are analyzed to determine levels of craftsmanship and craft specialization. Detailed consideration of knapping errors and rejuvenation flakes reveals that the blademaker at Ojo de Agua was moderately skilled at his craft, which he practiced on a part-time basis. The maximum level of output from his workshop was 26,000, or fewer, fine blades per year, or the equivalent of part-time work during a three-month period. Analysis of knapping strategies evident in the workshop debris suggests that the blademaker's overriding strategy was to achieve a balance between effort and knapping risk at the expense of raw material. Access to obsidian cores does not appear to have been a concern, as little effort was made to economize in this respect, and thousands of usable, irregular blades were discarded in the workshop refuse.

Information

Type
Special Section: Recent Research on Obsidian in Mesoamerica
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997, pp. 137 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Arnold, Jeanne E. 1983 Chumash Economic Specialization: An Analysis of the Quarries and Bladelet Production Villages of the Channel Islands, California. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
Arnold, Jeanne E. 1985 Economic Specialization in Prehistory: Methods of Documenting the Rise of Lithic Craft Specialization. In Lithic Resource Procurement: Proceedings from the Second Conference on Prehistoric Chert Exploitation, edited by Vehik, Susan C., pp. 37–58. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth M., and Earle, Timothy K. 1987 Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies: An Introduction. In Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies, edited by Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. and Earle, Timothy K., pp. 1–9. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1977 Mesoamerican Large Polyhedral Cores. Katunob 10 (4):79–93.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1982 Manufacture of Mesoamerica Prismatic Blades: An Alternative Technique. American Antiquity 47:355–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E. 1984 Counterflaking and the Manufacture of Mesoamerican Prismatic Blades. Lithic Technology 13:52–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E. 1988 The Lithic Artifacts from La Libertad, Chiapas, Mexico: An Economic Perspective. Papers No. 52. New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1989 Obsidian: The Primary Mesoamerican Sources. In La obsidiana en Mesoamérica, edited by Gaxiola, M. and Clark, J.E., pp. 299–319. Serie Científica No. 176. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1991 Flintknapping and Debitage Disposal Among the Lacandon Maya of Chiapas, Mexico. In The Ethnoarchaeology of Refuse Disposal, edited by Staski, Edward and Sutro, Livingston D., pp. 63–78. Anthropological Research Papers No. 42. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Bryant, Douglas Donne 1997 A Technological Typology of Prismatic Blades and Debitage From Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:111–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E., and Lee, Thomas A. Jr 1979 A Behavioral Model for the Obsidian Industry of Chiapa de Corzo. Estudios de Cultura Maya 12:33–51.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1984 Formative Obsidian Exchange and the Emergence of Public Economies in Chiapas, Mexico. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth G., pp. 235–274. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Coe, William R. 1965 Tikal: Ten Years of Study of a Maya Ruin in the Lowlands of Guatemala. Expedition 8:5–56.Google Scholar
Crabtree, Don E. 1968 Mesoamerican Polyhedral Cores and Prismatic Blades. American Antiquity 33:446–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flenniken, Jeffrey J. 1981 Replication Systems Analysis: A Model Applied to the Veín Quartz Artifacts from the Hoko River Site. Reports of Investigations 59:1–12. Laboratory of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman.Google Scholar
Hay, Conran A. 1978 Kaminaljuyu Obsidian: Lithic Analysis and Economic Organization of a Prehistoric Mayan Chiefdom. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan M., and Kerley, Janet 1984 Edge Damage Induced by Core Immobilization in Prismatic Blade Manufacture. Lithic Technology 13:1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healan, Dan M., Kerley, Janet M., and Bey, George J. III 1983 Excavation and Preliminary Analysis of an Obsidian Workshop in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 10:127–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelterborn, Peter 1984 Toward Replicating Egyptian Predynastic Flint Knives. Journal of Archaeological Science 11:433–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kidder, A.V., Jennings, J.D., and Shook, E.M. 1946 Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Publication No. 561. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Mallory, John K. III 1984 Late Classic Maya Economic Specialization: Evidence from the Copan Obsidian Assemblage. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1990 The Misidentification of Mesoamerican Lithic Workshops. Latin American Antiquity 1:268–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neivens, Mary, and Libbey, David 1976 An Obsidian Workshop at El Pozito, Northern Belize. Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, Thomas R. and Hammond, Norman, pp. 137–149. Special Report No. 4. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Nelson, Fred W. Jr, and Clark, John E. 1995 Obsidian Production and Exchange in Eastern Mesoamerica. Paper presented at the Coloquio Pedro Bosch Gimpera, III: Rutas de Intercambio en Mesoamérica. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Olson, Kirsten A. 1994 Inclusive and Exclusive Mechanisms of Power: Obsidian Blade Production and Distribution Among the Ancient Maya of the Belize River Area. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Reents-Budet, Dorie 1994 Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Duke University Press, Durham, NC.Google Scholar
Rovner, Irwin 1974 Evidence for a Secondary Obsidian Workshop at Mayapan, Yucatan. Lithic Technology 3:19–27.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S. 1980 Pricing Policies, Obsidian Exchange, and the Decline of Teotihuacan Civilization. Mexicon 2:77–81.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S. 1984 Obsidian Exchange, Economic Stratification, and the Evolution of Complex Society in the Basin of Mexico. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth G., pp. 43–86. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S., Kneebone, Ronald R., and Kerley, Janet 1985 Rates of Obsidian Utilization in Central Mexico and on the South Gulf Coast. Lithic Technology 14:107–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, Harry J. 1982 Maya Craft Specialization in Northern Belize. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize: The 1981 Interim Report, edited by Hester, Thomas R., Shafer, Harry J., and Eaton, Jack D., pp. 31–38. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, Harry J., and Hester, Thomas R. 1983 Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize Central America. American Antiquity 48:519–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelley, Phillip H. 1990 Variation in Lithic Assemblages: An Experiment. Journal of Field Archaeology 17:187–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1978 From Craftsman to Cog: Quantitative Views of Mesoamerican Lithic Technology. In Papers on the Economy and Architecture of the Ancient Maya, Monograph VIII, edited by Sidrys, Raymond, pp. 40–71. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1983a Chipped Stone from the Zapotitán Valley. In Archaeology and Volcanism in Central America: The Zapotitán Valley of El Salvador, edited by Sheets, Payson D., pp. 195–223. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1983b Paper No. 10: Guatemalan Obsidian: A Preliminary Study of Sources and Quirigua Artifacts. In Quirigua Reports, vol. 2, edited by Shortman, Edward M. and Urban, Patricia A., pp. 87–101. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D., and Muto, Guy 1972 Pressure Blades and Total Cutting Edge: An Experiment in Lithic Technology. Science 175:632–634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sidrys, Raymond 1979 Supply and Demand Among the Classic Maya. Current Anthropology 20:594–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sollberger, J.B. 1985 A Technique for Folsom Fluting. Lithic Technology 14:41–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar