Classic Maya Textile Production: Insights From Motul De San José, Peten, Guatemala

Abstract

Textiles in ancient Mesoamerica served as a critical economic resource and symbolic display of status, wealth, and social affiliation. The economic significance of textiles can be explored, in part, by the archaeological identification and distribution of production tools: spinning and weaving implements. In the Maya area, however, few studies have examined the organization of textile production, and systematic documentation of tool distributions is lacking. This paper reviews previous archaeological research on Maya textile production and introduces new data from the Classic-period site of Motul de San José, Guatemala. These data complement current understandings of Classic Maya household economies by stressing the relative economic autonomy of households from the state in textile production and the heterogeneity of productive strategies within and between different households. Such heterogeneity is expressed, at least in the case of Motul de San José, by more intensive or larger-scale production conducted by large, elite households than by small, commoner households. This finding implies that textile production for tribute was not a central concern among lower-status groups in this area as it was among many Postclassic- and Contact-period commoners in Mesoamerica. Rather, Classic-period Maya royal and elite individuals were able to bolster further their economic and social standings through textile production because they had easier access to resources or surplus labor found in or associated with their own households.

Pottery politics: Late Classic Maya palace production at Motul de San José, Petén, Guatemala

“…These materials included faunal remains, chert tools and debitage (although debitage densities were low), stone and bone ornaments, groundstone (e.g., manos and metates), and ceramic figurines, flutes, and drums. Higher densities of spindle whorls and bone weaving tools (e.g., needles, awls, and pins) were found in the Acropolis midden as compared with those from middle or low-status architectural groups (Halperin, 2008). They also yielded some of the largest frequencies of bone-working debitage at the site (Emery, 2003, p. 41 , Table 3).…”

“…Finally, some of the bone awls or pins found in these large middens contained traces of red coloring on their proximal ends. While awls and pins are often thought to have functioned as weaving tools or hair pins (Dacus, 2005;Halperin, 2008;Taschek, 1994), these residues suggest that some may have also been painting tools. The residues were similar to the red specular hematite found in the miniature paint pots, and could have appropriately fit into their necks.…”

“…Evidence of other craft activities, such as spinning, weaving, sewing, and bone and shell manufacture have also been identified from both the primary and secondary middens at the northwestern edge of the Acropolis (Emery, 2003;Foias et al, in press;Halperin, 2008). Because of the secondary nature of many of the textile tools and bone and shell production debris, we cannot say whether the remains derived from one or several elite households.…”

Ancient Maya Commerce : Multidisciplinary Research at Chunchucmil

“…First, spinning and weaving may have been primarily an elite activity. Spinning and weaving tools are more common in elite contexts (Chase et al 2008;Halperin 2008;Hendon 1997:44;McAnany 2010:117, 186). On the other hand, ethnohistorical and ethnographic sources describe weaving as an activity for women of all statuses (McAnany 2010:117).…”

Writing as Material Practice: Substance, surface and medium

“…Craft activities in ancient Maya contexts have a supernatural overlay, in which the creation of objects is set up as parallel to, or evocative of, godly types of creation (Inomata 2001: 331-332). In the case of weaving, this traditionally feminine activity replicates aspects of giving birth (Prechtel and Carlsen 1988), underscoring the ultimate productive power of female members of society (Halperin 2008;Hendon 2006).…”