Early Maya Ritual Practices and Craft Production: Late Middle Preclassic Ritual Deposits Containing Obsidian Artifacts at Ceibal, Guatemala

Abstract

This article examines Preclassic Maya ritual practices and craft production by means of a study of ritual deposits containing obsidian artifacts dated mostly to the late Middle Preclassic period (700-350 B.C.) at Ceibal, Guatemala. New ritual practices developed at Ceibal during this period, possibly through political interactions and negotiation involving emerging elites and other diverse community members. Common objects in ritual deposits in the public plaza shifted from greenstone celt caches to other artifacts, including those made of obsidian. The inhabitants of Ceibal engaged in various kinds of craft production, including the manufacture of obsidian prismatic blades. They also conducted public rituals in the Central Plaza, depositing exhausted polyhedral obsidian cores and other artifacts with symbolic significance in caches and as offerings in incipient elite burials and interments of sacrificed individuals. These cores clearly demonstrate the use of a sophisticated blade technology. Like greenstone objects, exhausted polyhedral obsidian cores deposited in cruciform arrangements along the east-west axis of the central E-Group plaza were used as symbols and markers of the center and four cardinal directions within the Maya cosmos. Public rituals were important for creating collective identities and for processes of political negotiation within the community. Emerging elites likely came to play an increasingly important role in public rituals as principal performers and organizers, setting the stage for later public events centered on rulers.

Archaeological application of airborne LiDAR to examine social changes in the Ceibal region of the Maya lowlands

“…This trend can also be seen in a change in the use of space in Group A. Toward the end of the Middle Preclassic period, the deposition of caches with greenstone axes along the central axis of the E Group ceased, and new ritual practices involved the caching of ceramic vessels, obsidian artifacts, and sacrificed individuals [ 31 , 55 – 57 ]. In addition, the supporting platforms located to the southwest and northeast of the E-Group assemblage (A-24 Platform and the East Court), which had held multiple buildings, were converted to flat, open spaces at the beginning of the Late Preclassic period.…”

Earliest isotopic evidence in the Maya region for animal management and long-distance trade at the site of Ceibal, Guatemala

“… 7 – 9 ). Ceremonial deposits of greenstone axes and obsidian artifacts attest to Ceibal’s trade relations with various areas, including the Gulf Coast and Guatemalan highlands ( 4 , 10 , 11 ). After a significant demographic decline during the Early Classic period (AD 175–600), Ceibal recovered to become a major political power under a dynastic rule during the Late Classic period (AD 600–810).…”

Preclassic Maya caches in residential contexts: variation and transformation in deposition practices at Ceibal

“…Two late Middle Preclassic caches were also excavated here (Table 2). Cache 157 contained a large fragment of a ceramic plate, an obsidian blade and an obsidian flake core (Figure 4; Aoyama et al 2017b). Worked bone and turtle shell were found in the fill around the cache, and may have been part of the same ritual deposit.…”

“…Four Late Preclassic and 21 Terminal Preclassic caches were identified at the Central Plaza of Ceibal (Aoyama et al 2017b; Inomata et al 2017b; Table 1). All were placed in intrusive pits, with two Late Preclassic cache pits (101 and 116) being capped by construction fill.…”