A Social Network Analysis of the Postclassic Lowland Maya Obsidian Projectile Industry

Abstract

This study addresses the role of prehistoric ethnopolitical divisions, factionalism, and alliances in macroregional economic models. The Mesoamerican Late Postclassic period (a.d. 1350–1525) is characterized by its “cosmopolitan” economy featuring long distance exchange of raw materials and finished products. Such characterizations are examined through a provenance analysis of small obsidian projectile points from the Maya lowlands of Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. Obsidian artifacts are analyzed using portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and social network analysis (SNA) methods, revealing at least four sub-networks of point procurement that belonged to nine different ethnopolitical divisions. Local production of points is approached using a novel method of two-mode analysis, demonstrating in some cases that the sources of local obsidian debitage and debris did not coincide with the sources of finished point assemblages. Such information reveals the intricacies of Maya exchange and stresses the importance of local political geography during the Late Postclassic.

The Porous Boundary: Comparing Late Postclassic–early Colonial Maya Projectile Technologies Across Peten and Belize

“…Volcanic origins of obsidian used for small projectile points also varied significantly across the subregion. SNA from a previously published study (Meissner 2017:148–149) revealed a strong subnetwork of obsidian exchange among centers in Belize involving Ixtepeque obsidian (Figure 6). In contrast, the Late Postclassic Peten Lakes region had more diversified patterns of procurement that included El Chayal and San Martin Jilotepeque in addition to Ixtepeque.…”

“…Obsidian points were subclassified by volcanic source and reported here from a previous study that used both instrumental portable x-ray fluorescence and visual analysis (Braswell et al 2000; Meissner 2017). The resulting data were compared graphically using social network analysis (SNA) to better understand raw material preferences throughout the subregion.…”

“…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.

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“…The lowland Late Postclassic represents a radical reformulation of Terminal Classic polities, and is often characterized by migration, political fragmentation, and economic integration through decentralized long-distance exchange (Masson 20000, 2003; McKillop 2005; Sabloff and Rathje 1975; Smith and Berdan 2003). The magnitude and nature of this integration are subject to refinement as more archaeological data are analyzed from the central lowlands (Cecil 2009; Graham 2011; Meissner 2017; Pugh and Rice 2009a; Rice and Rice 2009, 2018b; Schwarz 2009). The region of interest for this paper includes several ethnopolities known both archaeologically and from Spanish documentation.…”

ZACPETEN STRUCTURE 719: ACTIVITIES AT A CONTACT PERIODPOPOL NAHBEFORE RAPID ABANDONMENT

“…Of all the structures excavated at the site, Structure 719 yielded more obsidian prismatic blade segments ( n = 303) than any other, and also the highest frequencies of projectile points per excavated square meter in comparison to other civic-ceremonial structures (0.08/m 2 ; n = 44; Meissner 2014:413, Figure 7.29). X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses (Rice and Cecil 2009; Meissner 2017 used pXRF) revealed that 90 percent of the more than 300 analyzed obsidian artifacts throughout the site came from varied Guatemalan source flows (Table 4). The chert and other siliceous stone points were assumed to be made of local materials, although one point recovered from a bench seat was made of honey-brown chert from the Northern Belize Chert Bearing Zone.…”