Economic Foundations of Mayapán Project: Results of the 2001 Season

Artifact Analysis

We have performed a type:variety analysis of 28,422 sherds collected from surface survey (Peraza and Cruz 2002), and are planning more detailed functional classifications for these data. Ninety-three percent of the sample is comprised of the Postclassic types of Mama Red, Yuncú Unslipped, and Yacman Striated. Faunal bones from the 2001 surface collections have been analyzed, along with some samples from Clifford Brown’s household excavations and Peraza’s excavations in the monumental zone (Masson et al. 2002). Chert and chalcedony tools (N=250) and obsidian (N=466) have also been analyzed in a preliminary way. Distributions of artifact densities have been compared between individual concentrations associated with different houselots and between general areas represented by milpa sampling areas with which houselots are associated.

Milpa #1 had areas of incredibly dense ceramic sherds, with an average of 33.8 per square meter, compared to all other areas which did not even have half this amount. Variation is observed in individual concentration densities within milpas (Figure 17a, Figure 17b, Figure 17c, Figure 17d). Three Milpa #1 concentrations had over 2000 sherds per dog leash unit (and one of these had 4,379), an amount unequalled elsewhere at the site. These data may signal occupational intensity or duration, and functional analysis is planned to determine if different activities are represented by sherd concentrations. Milpa #1 also had double the obsidian (.50 per square meter) than any other sampled area. Three milpas had .23-.25 pieces per square meter (#2, #4, #9) and all others had less than .09. Clearly, obsidian was not uniformly distributed across the site, as might be expected if this material were generally accessible through open market exchange. At Mayapán, obsidian forms 37.3% of the sample of obsidian and nonobsidian tools, compared to 2/3-3/4 of the tool sample of two Postclassic sites from northern Belize (Caye Coco and Laguna de On, Masson and Chaya 2000). Perhaps the Belize sites’ closer proximity to the source was influential in making obsidian more accessible in this region. High proportions of marine shell debris (Figure 18a and 18b, shown below) were found in Milpa #1 (.18 per square meter), and Milpa #4 had greater amounts of shell also (.12 per square meter) compared to the rest of the sample areas, which had less than .05 pieces per square meter.

Lithic artifacts show a different pattern. Lithic tools were more abundant in Milpa #2, particularly in one location that may have been an activity area for crafts involving the use of stone tools (utilized flakes). Other tool concentrations include small worked flake polished nubbins that seem to have been used for drilling materials or perhaps for working marine shell. Utilized flakes were the most common type of tool found, forming 50-85% of the samples from different milpas. Biface fragments were the second most common type, and the most common forms of diagnostic biface tools were pointed bifaces and arrow points (Figure 19, shown below). Unutilized lithic flakes were most common in Milpa #4, and most of these originate from a single workshop concentration that had 2,691 flakes in a 3m dog leash unit. Clearly, there was a burgeoning nonobsidian lithic industry at Mayapán that made tools that were part of the basic toolkit of many households. Such tools appear to have been made locally (Figure 20, shown below), and the majority of the material represented is a white patinated chert (20%) or a coffee brown chalcedony (20%). The source of these materials is not known, but is presumed to be nearby due to their frequent use.

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