Maya Coastal Subsistence and Craft—Production at San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize: The Lithic Use-Wear Evidence

Abstract

Use-wear analysis of the chipped chert and chalcedony tools excavated from San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize, has provided substantial insight into the activities performed by the Maya living at the site from the Classic through Historic periods. The determination of tool action and the materials that were worked by the ancient inhabitants reveals that most activities concentrated on basic subsistence in a coastal environment, with the possibility of small-scale craft-production for local consumption and some regional trade. There is only minor variation in activities undertaken by the San Pedro Maya throughout the lengthy occupation of this site based on the distribution of stone tools with use-related wear.