Domestic, artisanal, and ritual activities in a classical Maya city. Functional analysis of obsidian blades from the Cancuén site (AD 650-800) - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2022

Domestic, artisanal, and ritual activities in a classical Maya city. Functional analysis of obsidian blades from the Cancuén site (AD 650-800)

Résumé

The difficulty in recognizing the activities that took place in Maya cities during the Classic period (250-950 AD) is at the origin of many debates on the nature and functioning of Mesoamerican cities. These activities are rarely identified because of the systematic cleaning of the occupation grounds and the conditions of conservation of perishable objects. To characterize the activities that took place in the spaces uncovered, we carried out a functional analysis of the lithic tools most frequently found during excavations. Our study focused on the site of Cancuén (Guatemala) which, due to its short chronology, is an ideal case for determining the spatial distribution of the activities that took place there. Our analysis focused on one type of tools: flint drills, rare in the Mayan area but abundant within the Cancuén city. The selected tools for the functional analysis come from several contexts, whether domestic, public, places of artisanal production, but also ritual (burial) to determine the different status of these objects according to their contexts of use. The results of the functional analysis showed that drills were used for a wide variety of tasks. While this type of tool is sometimes used opportunistically for a wide variety of materials, such as wood and ceramics, it is sometimes involved in very specialized activities, such as tooth work. Analysis of tools from ritual contexts suggested that their use could add value to the offering. This analysis allows us to provide the first elements of understanding of the organization of artisanal, domestic, and ritual activities in the city of Cancuén.
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Dates et versions

hal-04413734 , version 1 (28-02-2024)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04413734 , version 1

Citer

Naya Cadalen, Chloé Andrieu, Sylvie Beyries. Domestic, artisanal, and ritual activities in a classical Maya city. Functional analysis of obsidian blades from the Cancuén site (AD 650-800). AWRANA Tracing Social Dynamics conference proceedings, Apr 2022, Barcelone, Spain. ⟨hal-04413734⟩
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