Consumption of Pottery and Lithics in the Peripheries of Tikal, Guatemala
Open Access
- Author:
- Straight, Kirk Damon
- Graduate Program:
- Anthropology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 04, 2012
- Committee Members:
- David Lee Webster, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Kenneth Gale Hirth, Committee Member
George Robert Milner, Committee Member
Timothy Michael Murtha Jr., Special Member - Keywords:
- Maya
ceramics
neutron activation analysis
archaeology
economic anthropology
complex society - Abstract:
- My dissertation utilizes field data collected from the Classic lowland Maya center of Tikal by The Pennsylvania State University Tikal Project between 2003 and 2006. It is specifically designed to address household economics at a pre-industrial Maya center relating artifact distributions to household consumption and exchange patterns. Household level recovery of pottery and lithics from two field seasons of settlement excavations are summarized here and used to address several questions and test various hypotheses and models. My artifact data set was retrieved primarily from 60 test-pits: 49 from 36 discreet residential units (i.e., households) within the northern survey corridor and western survey block, and another 11 at the minor center of Ramonal/Chalpate. Thirty five trench excavations (18 Operations) were also excavated across the ditch and embankment of the earthwork segments, but these produced few ceramics or lithics. All excavations are within peripheral or hinterland Tikal, between 4.6 and 9 km from central Tikal’s large core architecture or “downtown” area. Lithic artifact distribution patterns are contrasted against more complex ceramic distributions. An Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) facilitated the construction of compositional reference groups for ceramics related by paste recipe. These groups reflect different production traditions, and the distribution patterns for sherds from these groups inform about the likely mechanisms of exchange in the Classic period.