Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-h5th4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-06-18T01:05:28.426Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize, Central America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Harry J. Shafer  and
Thomas R. Hester
Harry J. Shafer
Affiliation:
Anthropology Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843
Thomas R. Hester
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78285
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Recent archaeological work at Colha and at other localities in the geographically restricted chert-bearing zone of northern Belize has revealed large-scale exploitation of chert for stone tool production. Workshops dated during the Late Preclassic period signal the beginning of craft specialization in chert working that continued in the Late Classic and into the Early Postclassic periods. Secular items such as large oval bifaces, tranchet bit tools and prismatic blades, as well as nonsecular eccentrics and stemmed macroblade artifacts are distinctive of the Late Preclassic and Late Classic workshops. The distribution sphere of Preclassic and Classic period chert tools has been traced to several contemporaneous sites that lie beyond the chert-bearing zone to the north. Colha has been identified as the primary production and distribution center during the Late Preclassic period; although it remained a production center in the Late Classic period, the main center for distribution may have shifted to Altun Ha.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , July 1983 , pp. 519 - 543
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1983

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 Cited

Adams, R. E. W. 1970 Suggested Classic Period Occupational Specialization in the Southern Maya Lowlands. In Monographsand Papers in Maya Archaeology, edited by Bullard, W. R.. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Papers 61:487-502. Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. 1971 The Ceramics of Altar de Sacrificios. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Papers 63. Cambridge, Mass. Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. 1977 Prehistoric Mesoamerica. Little, Brown, Boston.Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W. 1979 Colha and Maya Archaeology: Potential and Perspective. Paper presented at the symposium entitled“Colha: An Ancient Maya Flintworking Center in Belize, Central America,” Southern Texas Archaeological Association Quarterly Meeting, San Antonio. Google Scholar
Adams, R. E. W., and Valdez, F. 1980 The Ceramic Sequence of Colha, Belize. In The Colha Project: Second Season, 1980 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D. and Shafer, H. J., pp. 15–40. The Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia. San Antonio.Google Scholar
Becker, M. 1973 Archaeological Evidence for Occupational Specialization Among the Classic Maya at Tikal, Guatemala. American Antiquity 38:355–372.Google Scholar
Bosch, P. W. 1979 A Neolithic Flint Mine. Scientific American 240:126–132.Google Scholar
Bullard, W. R. Jr. 1960 The Maya Settlement Pattern in Northeastern Peten, Guatemala. American Antiquity 25:355–372.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. P. 1974 The Lost Civilization: The Story of the CJassic Maya. Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Eaton, J. D. 1981 Architecture and Settlement at Colha, Belize. Paper presented at the 80th Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, Los Angeles. Google Scholar
Freidel, D. A. 1979 Culture Areas and Interaction Spheres: Contrasting Approaches to the Emergence of Civilization inthe Maya Lowlands. American Antiquity 44:36–54.Google Scholar
Fry, R. 1979 The Economics of Pottery at Tikal, Guatemala: Models of Exchange for Serving Vessels. American Antiquity 44:494–512.Google Scholar
Gann, T. W. F. 1911 Exploration Carried on in British Honduras during 1908-1910. Liverpooi Annais of Archaeology and Anthropology 4:72-87. Liverpool, England.Google Scholar
Gann, T. W. F. 1918 The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 64. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Gifford, J. C. 1976 Prehistoric Pottery Analysis and the Ceramics at Barton Ramie in the Belize Valley. Peabody Museum Memoir 14. Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. (editor) 1973 British Museum-Cambridge University Corozal Project, 1973, Interim Report. Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Hammond, N., Pring, D., Wilk, R., Donaghey, S., Saul, F. P., Wing, E., Miller, A. and Feldman, L. H. 1979. The Earliest Lowland Maya: Definitions of the Swasey Phase American Antiquity 44:92–109.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R. 1976 Belize Lithics: Forms and Functions. In Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, T. R. and Hammond, N., pp. 11–20. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio. Google Scholar
Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D. and Shafer, H. J. (editors) 1980 The Coiha Project: Second Season, 1980 Interim Report. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia. San Antonio. Google Scholar
Hester, T. R., Shafer, H. J., Ligabue, G., Heizer, R. F., Eaton, J. D. and Salvatori, S. 1979 Coiha, Belize: A Preliminary Statement on the 1979 Season. In The Coiha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Hester, T. R., pp. 1–8. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of San Antonio. Google Scholar
Kelly, T. C. 1980 The Coiha Regional Survey. In The Coiha Project: Second Season, 1980 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D., and Shafer, H. J., pp. 51–70. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia. San Antonio. Google Scholar
Kelly, T. C, and Valdez, F. 1979 Survey Activities at Coiha, May 1979. In The Coiha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Hester, T. R., pp. 159–163. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio. Google Scholar
Kelly, T. C, Valdez, F., and Hester, T. R. 1979 Lithic Workshops in the Rockstone Pond Road # 2 Area. In The Coiha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Hester, T. R., pp. 173–175. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio. Google Scholar
Kidder, A. V. 1947 The Artifacts of Uaxactun, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution, Publication 576. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Mac Neish, R. S. 1981 Second Annual Report of the Belize Archaic Archaeological Reconnaissance. Robert S. Peabody Foundation, Phillips Academy, Andover Mass.Google Scholar
McAnany, P. A., and Shafer, H. J. 1982 Stages, Recycling and Role Diversification of Stone Tools from Pulltrouser Swamp Settlements, Belize. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Mitchum, B. A. 1981 Lithic Artifacts from Cerros, Belize: Products, Consumption, and Trade. Ms. on file, Anthropology Program, Texas A & M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Pendergast, D. M. 1979 Excavations at Altun Ha, Belize, 1974-1970: Volume 1. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.Google Scholar
Puleston, O. 1969 Functional Analysis of a Workshop Toolkit from Tikal. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania. Google Scholar
Roemer, E. 1980 Operation 2007: A Preliminary Report on the Excavation of a Late Classic Workshop. In The Coiha Project: Second Season, 1980 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D., and Shafer, H. J., pp. 81–104. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studie Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia. San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1976 Belize Lithics: “Orange Peel” Flakes and Adze Manufacture. In Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, T. R. and Hammond, N., pp. 21–34. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio. Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1979 A Technological Study of Two Maya Lithic Workshops at Coiha, Belize. In The Coiha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Hester, T. R., pp. 28–78. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio. Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1980 An Analysis of Lithic Artifacts from Pulltrouser Swamp-Kokeal, Belize. Ms. on file at the Departmentof Anthropology, Texas A & M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1981 Maya Lithic Craft Specialization in Northern Belize. Paper presented at the 80th Annual Meetingsof the American Anthropological Association, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J., and Hester, T. R. 1979 Lithic Research at Coiha: An Overview. In The Coiha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Hester, T. R., pp. 18–27. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J Hester, T. R., and Kelly, T. C. 1980a An Analysis of Lithic Artifacts from 1976 Excavations at Cuello, Belize. Ms. on file at the Centerfor Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J Hester, T. R., and Kelly, T. C. 1980b Notes on the Sand Hill Site. In The Colha Project: Second Season, 1980 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D., and Shafer, H. J., pp. 195–200. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia. San Antonio. Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. and Oglesby, F. M. 1980 Test Excavations in a Colha Debitage Mound: Operation 4001. In The Colha Project: Second Season, 1980 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D., and Shafer, H. J., pp. 195–220. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studie Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia. San Antonio.Google Scholar
Stoltman, J. B. 1978 Lithic Artifacts from a Complex Society: The Chipped Stone Tools of Becan, Campeche Mexico. Occasional Papers 2. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Taylor, A. J. 1980 Excavations at Operation 2010: An Early Postclassic Midden. In The Colha Project: Second Season, 1980 Interim Report, edited by Hester, T. R., Eaton, J. D., and Shafer, H. J., pp. 133–144. Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venezia. San Antonio.Google Scholar
Tsirk, A. 1979 Regarding Fracture Initiation. In Lithic Use-Wear Analysis, edited by Hayden, B., pp. 83–96. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Wilk, R. 1973 Operation 4, Colha. In British Museum-Cambridge University Corozal Project, 1973, Interim Report, edited by Hammond, N., pp. 55–60. Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Wilk, R. 1976 Stoned Again: Further Lithic Analysis at Colha, Belize. Ms. on file at the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas, San Antonio. Google Scholar
Willey, G. R., Bullard, W. R. Jr. , Glass, J. B., and Gifford, J. C. 1965 Prehistoric Maya Settlements in the Belize Valley. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Papers 54. Cambridge, Mass. Google Scholar
Wright, A. C. S, Romney, D. H., Arbuckle, R. H., and Vial, V. E. 1959 Land in British Honduras. Colonial Research Publication 24. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. Google Scholar