The Technology of Maya Civilization by The Technology of Maya Civilization

Author:The Technology of Maya Civilization [Retail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-317-54416-6
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

Classic Period (A.D. 500–900)

We recovered more than twice as many obsidian artifacts dating to the Late Classic period than to the Early Classic. In all, I positively assigned 965 Late Classic obsidian artifacts to the SMJ and CHY sources. Nevertheless, there are far fewer Late Classic obsidian artifacts than Preclassic ones, a situation that parallels our general interpretation of activity at the site.

Overall, obsidian procurement patterns for the Late Classic are similar to those observed at the end of the Early Classic. CHY obsidian accounts for 54.1 percent (N = 522) and SMJ material for 45.9 percent (N = 443) of the Late Classic obsidian artifacts assigned to these two sources. This pattern indicates that Tak’alik Ab’aj imported obsidian from both sources in roughly similar quantities, as observed for the Early Classic Castillo phase.

Unfortunately, no obsidian artifacts were collected from pure Guzmán phase (A.D. 500–700) contexts. Twenty-three SMJ or CHY Late Classic obsidian artifacts come from pure Ralda phase (A.D. 700–900) contexts. These are evenly divided among artifacts from SMJ (52 percent; N = 12) and CHY (48 percent; N = 11).

An important change of the Late Classic period is the introduction of green obsidian from the PAC source in small quantities. Five of a total of 30 green prismatic blades date to this period, and one can be further assigned to the Ralda phase, that is, to the end of the Late Classic. The presence of green obsidian at Tak’alik Ab’aj, therefore, can be associated with the “second pulse” of Mexican obsidian that reached the Maya area during the late ninth, tenth, and early eleventh centuries (Chapter 4; Braswell 2003b).

At Tak’alik Ab’aj, the Late Classic was a period characterized by concerted efforts to reconstruct, renovate, and remodel already ancient buildings. Many carved monuments were re-erected in the plazas and in front of the buildings. Popenoe de Hatch (2005: 1037) has shown that Tak’alik Ab’aj created new political and commercial links at this time, particularly with the northwestern highlands and the piedmont.

The relative frequencies of material from both CHY and SMJ are almost equal, suggesting balanced imports from both sources. CHY obsidian might have reached the site via the piedmont city of Cotzumalhuapa (Chapter 9), where material from this source dominates the Late Classic collection.

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