Mortuary Sealing Among the Maya

Duncan, William N.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-0479-2_10

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The use of flaked stone was just one way in which the act was carried out. In other cases, loose white marl (Duncan 2014) or clay and textiles were used. Such was the case with tomb B-4/7 at Altun Ha where “virtually the entire crypt appears to have been draped in cloth” (Pendergast 1982:65–68).…”

Section: Discussion: the Practice And Materiality Of Sealing Gravesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sealing with Stone: Assessing an Assemblage of Lithic Debitage from a Funerary Context at the Lowland Maya City of Caracol, Belize

Johnson

2020

Latin Am. antiq.

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Excavators working in a ceremonial plaza group in the Classic period Lowland Maya city of Caracol, Belize, encountered thousands of pieces of chert and obsidian scattered above a royal tomb. A recent analysis of the chert from this context confirms that the assemblage included pieces from each stage of reduction in the production of blades. Taken together, the quantity of both chert and obsidian makes it the largest reported collection of lithic debitage found at the site and provides insight into the techniques of lithic crafters at Caracol. In this article, we consider the sequence of actions involved in the burial of a high-ranking individual and suggest that the layering of flaked stone above the tomb is reminiscent of other reported above-tomb contexts in the Maya Lowlands. Further, a technological analysis of this collection produced results similar to analyses of assemblages typically found in crafting-intensive residential groups. This finding suggests that lithic crafters throughout the city of Caracol donated flaked stone material for funerary events, providing a protective layer and sealing the grave below.

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Section: Discussion: the Practice And Materiality Of Sealing Gravesmentioning

confidence: 99%