Querying Quarries: Stone Extraction Practices and Socioeconomic Organization in Three Sub-Regions of the Maya Lowlands

ABSTRACT

Stone raw material in the past was often extracted, processed, and used by different individuals. The relationships among these practices make quarries important spaces for understanding how economic interactions function within society and what role access to resources plays in economic organization. This paper addresses the acquisition of raw materials through a focus on chert and limestone quarrying practices in the Maya area. Using three Classic period (200–950 a.d.) case studies from different sub-regions of the Maya lowlands, we highlight both shared and distinct practices and illustrate the roles that these extraction spaces played within Classic Maya economies. We find that heterogeneous aspects of quarrying techniques throughout the Maya lowlands result from variability in local geologic conditions, management structures, and the intended uses of the raw materials. As a result, this paper establishes methods for archaeologists to integrate quarries into their studies of past economies and anthropogenic landscapes.

KEYWORDS:

• quarry
• limestone
• chert
• Mesoamerica
• socioeconomies

Acknowledgements

The authors contributed equally to this work. Research at Callar Creek Quarry, Belize was conducted under the auspices of the Mopan Valley Archaeological Project directed by Jason Yaeger, with the permission of the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Funding was provided by a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (BCS Grant #1416212), a National Geographic Young Explorer Grant (Grant # 9089-12), and the School of Liberal Arts at Tulane University. Research at the Kaxnak Quarry of Muluchtzekel was conducted under the auspices of the Bolonchén Regional Archaeological project co-directed by Tomás Gallareta Negrón, William Ringle, and George J. Bey III, with the permission of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico. Funding was provided by a National Science Foundation grant (Award 1660503). Research at Xultun was conducted under the auspices of the San Bartolo-Xultun Regional Archaeological Project directed by William Saturno, Heather Hurst, and Boris Beltran, with the permission of the Guatemala’s Institute of Anthropology and History (IDAEH). Funding was provided by a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (BCS Grant #196303), the Rust Family Foundation (RFF-2017-35), and Boston University’s Latin American Studies Program, Archaeology Program, Department of Anthropology, College of the Arts, College of Arts and Sciences, and Humanities Center. Comments from the anonymous reviewers and Christina Luke improved the quality of the manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachel A. Horowitz

Rachel A. Horowitz (Ph.D. 2017, Tulane University) is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University. Her research interests include lithic technological organization, economic organization, and Mesoamerica. ORCID: 0000-0003-0980-3494.

Mary E. Clarke

Mary E. Clarke (Ph.D. 2020, Boston University) is a lecturer of archaeology in the Archaeology Program at Boston University. Her research interests include visual culture, sacred ecologies, socioeconomic organization, and Mesoamerica. ORCID: 0000-0003-3583-4796.

Kenneth E. Seligson

Kenneth E. Seligson (Ph.D. 2016, University of Wisconsin-Madison) is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at California State University Dominguez Hills. His research interests include environmental resource management, experimental archaeology, and the Maya lowlands. ORCID: 0000-0002-8835-473X.