Obsidian Blade Production for Craft Consumption at Kaminaljuyu

Abstract

The interpretation of craft activity in Mesoamerica has been hindered by difficulties in recognizing and defining the archaeological signatures associated with obsidian blade production and consumption. Theoretical advances and experimental approaches have improved our understanding, but few studies have investigated the role of obsidian blade production in craft activity using empirical data from archaeological assemblages. The present study addresses this problem by presenting an analysis of obsidian flakes and blades recovered from a workshop refuse context at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Technological and use wear analyses suggest that core-shaping by-products in the form of irregular percussion and pressure blades were used in craft activity. Fine blades were underrepresented in the assemblage, suggesting that cores or blades left the workshop as finished goods. These analyses demonstrate that the actual behavior of artisans likely did not conform exactly to the dichotomous theoretical categories of production and consumption that archaeologists routinely use.

Excavation of an Obsidian Craft Workshop at Teotihuacan, Mexico

“…Identification of the scale and organization of workshop areas depend upon addressing three dimensions of production output. These included the number of items produced in the time frame the workshop operated, the number of full- or part-time craftspersons involved in production, and determining whether the workshop was an exporter of finished lithic tools or a consumer of obsidian tools in other crafting activities (Anderson and Hirth 2009). It is here that Clark's critique becomes somewhat opaque.…”

2 Craft Production, Household Diversification, and Domestic Economy in Prehispanic Mesoamerica

“…Contingent crafting is often stimulated by the regular consumption of tools or finished products as part of the crafting process. Examples would be the production of ceramic vessels as evaporator pans in the manufacture of salt (see De León, this volume) or the manufacture of lithic tools for cutting or processing other types of goods (Anderson and Hirth 2009; Hirth, this volume; Hirth et al, this volume). Of course the question is does contingent production represent a form of multicrafting?…”

Exploring Formative Period Obsidian Blade Trade: Three Distribution Models

“…Medial sections can be further processed into smaller tools. Although complete blades are not common in the archaeological record, they can be, and were, used as tools (see Anderson and Hirth 2008;Sheets 2002:Table 14.1).…”