Abstract:6The bow-and-arrow was a widely used weapon in the Postclassic and Contact periods in the 7Maya lowlands. A sample of 108 arrow points from varied archaeological contexts in the lakes 8 region of central Petén, northern Guatemala, was submitted for cross-over 9 immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) analysis. Analysis resulted in 25 positive matches to available 10 antisera for a wide range of local and introduced fauna, from small and large land mammals to 11 avians. These findings indicate possible uses in subsistence… Show more
“…Estimating the degree of inter-Maya conflict from point assemblages is difficult because most projectiles were likely used for hunting. For example, previous immunological testing of 108 projectiles from Peten revealed that of the 37 immunological positives to fauna, only two tested positive for human protein—accounting for just 5.4 percent of the sample (Meissner and Rice 2015). Additionally, obsidian blades (prior to being reduced into points) played an essential role in bloodletting and autosacrifice, which could leave similar residue (Stemp 2016; Stemp et al 2019).…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This article examines these identities from a technological perspective of projectile weaponry that includes elements of vertical (generational) and horizontal (contact-related) transfer in lithic technology. Small arrow points are a defining class of stone tool during the Late Postclassic to Early Colonial (Contact) periods (Figure 2), and have been studied at several sites in the Maya region (Aoyama 2005; Blake 2010; Graham 1991, 2011; Marino et al 2016; Masson 2000; Meissner 2014, 2017, 2018a; Meissner and Rice 2015; Oland 2013; Proskouriakoff 1962; Shafer and Hester 1988; Simmons 1995, 2002). Figure 1.Map of the modern Peten-Belize border with approximate locations of ethnopolities, and major Late Postclassic/Colonial period sites.…”
This study examines the intersection of political, cultural, and linguistic differences in the archaeological study of boundaries. The Late Postclassic and Early Colonial periods (a.d. 1350–1525) in the Maya lowlands are known for political instability and the formulation of new identities, especially in the northern region of the Peten Lakes District (Guatemala) to the greater Rio Hondo drainage (Belize). This article approaches the theoretical formulations of archaeological borders from the perspective of lithic technology, focusing on small projectile points recovered from numerous sites in the subregion. Analysis of data suggests differences in resource acquisition, material preference, and production during a time of historically fluid interaction and occasional conflict in the Peten-Belize area. Such information adds to our understandings of political frontiers of Late Postclassic polities from a social and economic perspective that is often ignored.
“…Estimating the degree of inter-Maya conflict from point assemblages is difficult because most projectiles were likely used for hunting. For example, previous immunological testing of 108 projectiles from Peten revealed that of the 37 immunological positives to fauna, only two tested positive for human protein—accounting for just 5.4 percent of the sample (Meissner and Rice 2015). Additionally, obsidian blades (prior to being reduced into points) played an essential role in bloodletting and autosacrifice, which could leave similar residue (Stemp 2016; Stemp et al 2019).…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This article examines these identities from a technological perspective of projectile weaponry that includes elements of vertical (generational) and horizontal (contact-related) transfer in lithic technology. Small arrow points are a defining class of stone tool during the Late Postclassic to Early Colonial (Contact) periods (Figure 2), and have been studied at several sites in the Maya region (Aoyama 2005; Blake 2010; Graham 1991, 2011; Marino et al 2016; Masson 2000; Meissner 2014, 2017, 2018a; Meissner and Rice 2015; Oland 2013; Proskouriakoff 1962; Shafer and Hester 1988; Simmons 1995, 2002). Figure 1.Map of the modern Peten-Belize border with approximate locations of ethnopolities, and major Late Postclassic/Colonial period sites.…”
This study examines the intersection of political, cultural, and linguistic differences in the archaeological study of boundaries. The Late Postclassic and Early Colonial periods (a.d. 1350–1525) in the Maya lowlands are known for political instability and the formulation of new identities, especially in the northern region of the Peten Lakes District (Guatemala) to the greater Rio Hondo drainage (Belize). This article approaches the theoretical formulations of archaeological borders from the perspective of lithic technology, focusing on small projectile points recovered from numerous sites in the subregion. Analysis of data suggests differences in resource acquisition, material preference, and production during a time of historically fluid interaction and occasional conflict in the Peten-Belize area. Such information adds to our understandings of political frontiers of Late Postclassic polities from a social and economic perspective that is often ignored.
“…The most common siliceous tools were bifaces and small, triangular side-notched projectile points (<3 cm in length, <1 g in weight) with either short or elongated blades (Meissner 2014). Such points, common throughout LPC Mesoamerica, are associated with bow-and-arrow technology (Andresen 1976; Meissner and Rice 2015; Shafer and Hester 1988; Thomas 1978). Obsidian tools were primarily prismatic blades; despite these patterns, obsidian points seem to have played a special political-economic role (Chase 1992:123).…”
Section: Exploring Market Restriction In Postclassic Mesoamericamentioning
In premodern economic systems where the social embedding of exchange provided actors with the ability to control or monopolize trade, including the goods that enter and leave a marketplace, “restricted markets” formed. These markets produced external revenues that could be used to achieve political goals. Conversely, commercialized systems required investment in public goods that incentivize the development of market cooperation and “open markets,” where buyers and sellers from across social sectors and diverse communities could engage in exchange as economic equals within marketplaces. In this article, we compare market development at the Late Postclassic sites of Chetumal, Belize, and Tlaxcallan, Mexico. We identified a restricted market at Chetumal, using the distribution of exotic goods, particularly militarily and ritually charged obsidian projectile points; in contrast, an open market was built at Tlaxcallan. Collective action theory provides a useful framework to understand these differences in market development. We argue that Tlaxcaltecan political architects adopted more collective strategies, in which open markets figured, to encourage cooperation among an ethnically diverse population.
“…A different perspective on faunal use Group 719 comes from crossover immuno-electrophoresis (CIEP) analysis of animal protein (blood) residues on two projectile points from temple Structure 721 (Meissner and Rice 2015). Both points were of San Martín Jilotepeque obsidian.…”
This paper addresses activities carried out in a late-sixteenth or seventeenth century Maya council house (popol nah) just before its abandonment. Structure 719 at the site of Zacpeten in the central Peten lakes district is considered a noble residence remodeled into a council house with an adjacent temple. Excavations revealed quantities of de facto refuse inside the structure's two rooms and around the exterior; recent studies focused on ceramics, lithics, faunal remains, and net sinkers. The back room held abundant lithics and diverse fauna, with evidence of grinding red pigment and snapping obsidian prismatic blades into segments for fashioning arrow points. Pottery and faunal remains indicate feasting, as well as possible use of animal parts in ritual and in making ceremonial objects. The Group 719 complex served as a center of production of various goods and community ritual until its abrupt abandonment, likely in the first decade or so of the eighteenth century.
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