Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T11:44:22.489Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Advances in Geochemical Sourcing of Granite Ground Stone

Ancient Maya Artifacts from the Middle Belize Valley

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2021

Marieka Brouwer Burg Open the ORCID record for Marieka Brouwer Burg [Opens in a new window] ,
Tawny L. B. Tibbits Open the ORCID record for Tawny L. B. Tibbits [Opens in a new window]  and
Eleanor Harrison-Buck
Marieka Brouwer Burg*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
Tawny L. B. Tibbits
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Chadron State College, Chadron, NE, USA
Eleanor Harrison-Buck
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
*
(Marieka.brouwer-burg@uvm.edu; corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Often understudied by archaeologists, ground stone tools (GST) were ubiquitous in the ancient Maya world. Their applications ranged from household tools to ceremonial equipment and beyond. Little attention has been focused on chemically sourcing the raw stone material used in GST production, largely because these tools were fashioned out of igneous or sedimentary rock, which can present characterization challenges. And, although portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) has been applied widely to source obsidian, the utility of pXRF for geochemically sourcing other kinds of stone remains underexplored. We present a small-scale application of pXRF for determining granite provenance within a section of the Middle Belize Valley in Belize, Central America. Belize is an ideal location to test chemical sourcing studies of granite because there are only three tightly restricted and chemically distinct sources of granite in the country, from which the overwhelming majority of granite for ancient tool production derived. The method described here demonstrates that successful and accurate geological characterizations can be made on granite GST. This cutting-edge sourcing technique has the potential to be more widely applied in other regions to reveal deeper connections between the sources of GST production and sites of consumption across space and through time.

Poco estudiadas por los arqueólogos, las piedras de moler (GST en inglés) eran omnipresentes en el mundo maya antiguo. Sus aplicaciones varían desde herramientas domésticas hasta equipos ceremoniales y más usos. Se ha prestado poca atención a la procedencia de la piedra en bruto utilizada en la producción de GST en gran parte porque estas herramientas se fabricaban a partir de roca ígnea o sedimentaria, lo que puede presentar desafíos de caracterización. Y, aunque instrumentos portátiles de espectrometría fluorescente (pXRF) se han aplicado ampliamente a las fuentes geológicas de artefactos de obsidiana, la utilidad del pXRF para obtener la procedencia de otros tipos de piedra geoquímicamente sigue sin ser explorada. Presentamos una aplicación en pequeña escala de pXRF para determinar la procedencia del granito dentro de una sección del Valle Medio de Belice en Belice, Centroamérica. Belice es un lugar ideal para probar el origen químico del granito, ya que sólo hay tres fuentes de granito estrictamente restringidas y químicamente distintas en el país, de las cuales se deriva la gran mayoría del granito para la producción de herramientas antiguas. El método descrito aquí demuestra que se pueden realizar caracterizaciones geológicas exitosas y precisas con GST de granito. Esta técnica innovadora tiene el potencial de aplicarse más ampliamente en otras regiones para revelar conexiones más profundas entre las fuentes de producción de GST y los sitios de consumo en el espacio y el tiempo.

Keywords

ground stone toolsgeochemical sourcinggranitepXRFAncient MayaBelizepiedras de molerprocedencia geoquímicogranitopXRFAntigua MayaBelice
Type
Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , November 2021 , pp. 338 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES CITED

Abramiuk, Marc A., and Meurer, William P. 2006 A Preliminary Geoarchaeological Investigation of Ground Stone Tools in and around the Maya Mountains, Toledo District, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 17:335–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, Jenny L. 1988 Use-Wear Analysis of Handstones Used to Grind Corn and Process Hides. Journal of Field Archaeology 15:307–315.Google Scholar
Adams, Jenny L. 1989 Experimental Replication of the Use of Ground Stone Tools. Kiva 54:261–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, Jenny L. 1993 Mechanisms of Wear of Ground Stone Surfaces. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 29(4):61–74.Google Scholar
Adams, Jenny L. 1996 Manual for a Technological Approach to Ground Stone Analysis. Center for Desert Archaeology, Tucson, Arizona.Google Scholar
Adams, Jenny L. 1999 Refocusing the Role of Food-Grinding Tools as Correlates for Subsistence Strategies in the U.S. Southwest. American Antiquity 64:475–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, Jenny L. 2002 Ground Stone Analysis: A Technological Approach. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, in conjunction with the Center for Desert Archaeology, Tucson, Arizona.Google Scholar
Barbera, Giovanni, Barone, Germana, Crupi, Vincenza, Longo, Francesca, Majolino, Domenico, Mazzoleni, Paolo, and Venuti, Valentina 2013 Nondestructive Analyses of Carbonate Rocks: Applications and Potentiality for Museum Materials. X-Ray Spectrometry 42:8–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bateson, J. H., and Hall, I. H. S. 1977 Geology of the Maya Mountains, Belize. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Biskowski, Martin 1997 The Adaptive Origins of Prehispanic Markets in Central Mexico: The Role of Maize-Grinding Tools and Related Staple Products in Early State Economies. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Brand, N. W., and Brand, C. J. 2014 Performance Comparison of Portable XRF Instruments. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis 14:125–138. DOI:10.1144/geochem2012-172.Google Scholar
Brouwer Burg, Marieka, Runggaldier, Astrid, and Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2014 At the Crossroads: Examining the Hats Kaab E-Group as a Node of Trade and Communication in the Eastern Belize Watershed. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 11:259–270.Google Scholar
Brouwer Burg, Marieka, Runggaldier, Astrid, and Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2015 Highways, Byways, Circuits and Paths: Modeling Movement among the Ancient Maya in the Central Belize Watershed. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 12:281–293.Google Scholar
Brouwer Burg, Marieka, Runggaldier, Astrid, and Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2016 The Afterlife of Earthen-Core Buildings: A Taphonomic Study of Threatened and Effaced Architecture in Central Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 41:1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carballo, David M., Carballo, Jennifer, and Neff, Hector 2007 Formative and Classic Period Obsidian Procurement in Central Mexico: A Compositional Study Using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry. Latin American Antiquity 18:27–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chase, Arlen F., and Garber, James F. 2004 The Archaeology of the Belize Valley in Historical Perspective. In The Ancient Maya of the Belize Valley: Half a Century of Archaeological Research, edited by Garber, James F., pp. 1–14. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1979 A Specialized Obsidian Quarry at Otumba, Mexico: Implications for the Study of Mesoamerican Obsidian Technology and Trade. Lithic Technology 8:46–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E. 1988 The Lithic Artifacts of La Libertad, Chiapas, Mexico: An Economic Perspective. Papers 52. New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.Google Scholar
Conrey, R. M., Goodman-Elgar, M., Bettencourt, N., Seyfarth, A., Van Hoose, A., and Wolff, J. A. 2014 Calibration of a Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer in the Analysis of Archaeological Samples Using Influence Coefficients. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis 14:291–301. DOI:10.1144/geochem2013-198.Google Scholar
Cook, Scott 1982 Zapotec Stoneworkers: The Dynamics of Rural Simple Commodity Production in Modern Mexican Capitalism. University Press of America, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Cornec, Jean H. 2010 Geology Map of Belize. Geology and Petroleum Office, Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Craig, Nathan, Speakman, Robert J., Popelka-Filcoff, Rachel, Glascock, Michael D., David Robertson, J., Steven Shackley, M., and Aldenderfer, Mark S. 2007 Comparison of XRF and PXRF for Analysis of Archaeological Obsidian from Southern Perú. Journal of Archaeological Science 34:2012–2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dary, Claudia, and Esquivel, Aracely 1991 Los Artesanos de la Piedra: Estudio sobre la Cantería de San Luis Jilotepeque. Centro de Estudios Folklóricos, Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Delu, Antonia M. 2007 The Ground Stone Tools of Caye Coco, Belize. Occasional Paper No. 12. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, University at Albany–State University of New York, Albany.Google Scholar
Dixon, C. G. 1956 Geology of Southern British Honduras with Notes on Adjacent Areas. Government Printer, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Drennan, Robert. D. 1984 Long-Distance Movement of Goods in the Mesoamerican Formative and Classic. American Antiquity 49:27–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duffy, Lisa G. 2011 Maize and Stone: A Functional Analysis of the Manos and Metates of Santa Rita Corozal, Belize. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Central Florida, Orlando.Google Scholar
Folan, William J. 1982 Mining and Quarrying Techniques of the Lowland Maya. Anthropology 6:149–174.Google Scholar
Forster, Nicola, and Grave, Peter 2013 Effects of Elevated Levels of Lead in Ceramics on Provenancing Studies Using Non-Destructive PXRF: A Case Study in Byzantine Cypriot Glazed Ceramics. X-Ray Spectrometry 42:480–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frahm, Ellery 2012 Non-Destructive Sourcing of Bronze Age Near Eastern Obsidian Artefacts: Redeveloping and Reassessing Electron Microprobe Analysis for Obsidian Sourcing. Archaeometry 54:623–642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frahm, Ellery 2013a Is Obsidian Sourcing about Geochemistry or Archaeology? A Reply to Speakman and Shackley. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:1444–1448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frahm, Ellery 2013b Validity of “Off-the-Shelf” Handheld Portable XRF for Sourcing Near Eastern Obsidian Chip Debris. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:1080–1092. DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2012.06.038.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frahm, Ellery 2014 Characterizing Obsidian Sources with Portable XRF: Accuracy, Reproducibility, and Field Relationships in a Case Study from Armenia. Journal of Archaeological Science 49:105–125. DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2014.05.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garber, James F. 1989 The Ground Stone Industry. In Archaeology at Cerros Belize, Central America, edited by Freidel, David A., pp. 15–36. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, Texas.Google Scholar
Garber, James F. 1995 The Artifacts. In Maya Maritime Trade, Settlement, and Population on Ambergris Caye, Belize, edited by Guderjan, Thomas H. and Garber, James F., pp. 113–138. Labyrinthos Press, Culver City, California.Google Scholar
García Chavez, Raul Ernesto 2002 Etnografía de un taller de metates y molcajetes en el barrio de Xochiaca, Chimalhuacán, Estado de México. In Pasado, presente y futuro de la arqueología en el Estado de México, edited by Montes, Argelia and Zúñiga, Beatriz, pp. 131–140. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Glascock, Michael D. 2011 Comparison and Contrast between XRF and NAA: Used for Characterization of Obsidian Sources in Central Mexico. In X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarchaeology, edited by Shackley, M. Steven, pp. 161–192. Springer, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodale, Nathan, Bailey, David G., Jones, George T., Prescott, Catherine, Scholz, Elizabeth, Stagliano, Nick, and Lewis, Chelsea 2012 pXRF: A Study of Inter-Instrument Performance. Journal of Archaeological Science 38:875–883.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, Elizabeth 1987 Resource Diversity in Belize and Its Implications for Models of Lowland Trade. American Antiquity 52:753–767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, Elizabeth 2002 Perspectives on Economy and Theory. In Ancient Maya Political Economies, edited by Masson, Marilyn A. and Freidel, David A., pp. 398–418. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Guderjan, Thomas H. 1995 Settlement Patterns and Survey Data. In Maya Maritime Trade, Settlement, and Population on Ambergris Caye, Belize, edited by Guderjan, Thomas H. and Garber, James F., pp. 9–30. Labyrinthos Press, Culver City, California.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1972 Obsidian Trade Routes in the Maya Area. Science 178:1092–1093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, Norman, Nievens, Mary D., and Harbottle, Garman, Norman, Hammond 1984 Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from a Classic Maya Residential Group at Nohmul, Belize. American Antiquity 49:815–820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2010 At the Crossroads in the Middle Belize Valley: Modeling Networks of Ritual Interaction in Belize from Classic to Colonial Times. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 7:85–94.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2013 Archaeology in the Middle Belize Valley: A Report of the 2012 Belize River East Archaeology Project. Occasional Paper No. 6. University of New Hampshire, Durham. Report submitted to the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Copies available at https://brea-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BREA2012_Report.pdf, accessed April 1, 2021.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2015 Investigations of the Belize River East Archaeology Project: A Report of the 2014 and 2015 Field Seasons. Occasional Paper No. 7, Vols. 1–2. University of New Hampshire, Durham. Report submitted to the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Copies available at https://brea-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BREA_2014-15_reportV1_reduced_size.pdf, accessed April 1, 2021.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2018 Investigations of the Belize River East Archaeology Project: A Report of the 2016 and 2017 Field Seasons. Occasional Paper No. 8. University of New Hampshire, Durham. Report submitted to the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Copies available at https://brea-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BREA_Report_2018.pdf, accessed April 1, 2021.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor 2020 Investigations of the Belize River East Archaeology Project: A Report of the 2018 and 2019 Field Seasons. Occasional Paper No. 9. University of New Hampshire, Durham. Report submitted to the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Copies available at https://brea-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/BREA_Report2020.pdf, accessed April 1, 2021.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor (editor) 2011 Surveying the Crossroads in the Middle Belize Valley: A Report of the 2011 Belize River East Archaeology Project. Occasional Paper No. 5. University of New Hampshire, Durham. Report submitted to the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Copies available at https://brea-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BREA2011_Report.pdf, accessed April 1, 2021.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor, Burg, Marieka Brouwer, Murata, Satoru, Robinson, Hugh, Kaeding, Adam, and Gantos, Alex 2016 Rivers, Wetlands, Creeks, and Roads: Investigating Settlement Patterns in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Belize Watershed. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 13:137–148.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor, Burg, Marieka Brouwer, Willis, Mark, Walker, Chester, Murata, Satoru, Houk, Brett, and Runggalider, Astrid 2015 Drones, Mapping, and Excavations in the Middle Belize Valley: Research Investigations of the Belize River East Archaeology (BREA) Project. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 12:295–304.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor, Murata, Satoru, and Kaeding, Adam 2012 From Preclassic to Colonial Times in the Middle Belize Valley: Recent Archaeological Investigations of the BREA Project. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 9:131–140.Google Scholar
Harrison-Buck, Eleanor, Willis, Mark, Walker, Chester, Murata, Satoru, and Burg, Marieka Brouwer 2020 From Urban Core to Vacant Terrain: Defining the Heterotopia of Maya Monumental Landscapes at the Cross-Roads of the Middle Belize Valley. In Approaches to Monumental Landscapes of the Ancient Maya, edited by Houk, Brett, Arroyo, Barbara, and Powis, Terry G., pp. 85–108. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayden, Brian 1987 Lithic Studies among the Contemporary Highland Maya. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan M. 1997 Pre-Hispanic Quarrying in the Ucareo-Zinapecuaro Obsidian Source Area. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:77–100. DOI:10.1017/S0956536100001590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healy, Paul F., McKillop, Heather I., and Walsh, Bernie 1984 Analysis of Obsidian from Moho Cay, Belize: New Evidence on Classic Maya Trade Routes. Science 225:414–417. DOI:10.1126/science.225.4660.414.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hester, Thomas R., and Shafer, Harry J. 1984 Exploitation of Chert Resources by the Ancient Maya of Northern Belize, Central America. World Archaeology 16:157–173. DOI:10.1080/00438243.1984.9979925.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkinson, Laurence, Rutt, Ken, Kristova, Petra, Blows, Joan, and Firth, Callum 2015 Sourcing Limestone Masonry for Restoration of Historic Buildings, a Spectroscopic Pilot Study. Journal of Cultural Heritage 16. DOI:10.1016/j.culher.2015.03.007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Rachel A. 2017 Understanding Ancient Maya Economic Variability: Lithic Technological Organization in the Mopan Valley, Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.Google Scholar
Horowitz, Rachel A. 2021 Reducing Risk: Maya Lithic Production and Economic Diversification at Callar Creek Quarry, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica, in press. DOI:10.1017/S0956536120000462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horsfall, Gayel A. 1987 Design Theory and Grinding Stones. In Lithic Studies among the Contemporary Highland Maya, edited by Hayden, Brian, pp. 332–377. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Jackson, T. A., Duke, M. J. M., Scott, P. W., Smith, F., and Wilkinson, F. C. F. 1995 Petrology and Inferred Tectonic Setting of the Mountain Pine Ridge Granitoids, Maya Mountains, Belize. International Geology Review 37:26–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaeger, Susan E., Chase, Diane Z., and Chase, Arlen F. 1988 The Manos and Metates of Santa Rita Corozal, Appendix II. In A Postclassic Perspective: Excavations at the Maya Site of Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, edited by Chase, Diane Z. and Chase, Arlen F., pp. 99–110. Monograph 4. Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Johnson, Jay K. 1976 Long-Distance Obsidian Trade: New Data from the Western Maya Periphery. In Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, Thomas R. and Hammond, Norman, pp. 83–90. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Levi, Laura J. 1993 Prehispanic Residence and Community at San Estevan, Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Lopez-García, Pedro, Argote, Denisse L., and Beirnaert, Charlie 2019 Chemometric Analysis of Mesoamerican Obsidian Sources. Quaternary International 510:100–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKinnon, J. Jefferson 1989 Coastal Maya Trade Routes in Southern Belize. Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
MacNeish, Richard S., Nelken-Terner, Antoinette, and Johnson, Irmgard W. 1967 The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley: 2. Nonceramic Artifacts. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Masson, Marilyn A. 1999 Postclassic Maya Communities at Progresso Lagoon and Laguna Seca, Northern Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 26:285–306. DOI:10.1179/jfa.1999.26.3.285.Google Scholar
McAnany, Patricia A., and Ebersole, Justin P. 2004 Ground and Polished Stone Tools. In K'axob: Ritual, Work, and Family in an Ancient Maya Village, edited by McAnany, Patricia A., pp. 314–330. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
McBryde, Felix Webster 1945 Cultural and Historical Geography of Southwest Guatemala. Institute of Social Anthropology 4. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
McKillop, Heather I. 1996 Ancient Maya Trading Ports and the Integration of Long-Distance and Regional Economies: Wild Cane Cay in South-Coastal Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 7:49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKillop, Heather I., McAnany, Patricia A., and Isaac, Barry L. 1989 Coastal Maya Trade: Obsidian Densities at Wild Cane Cay. In Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize, edited by McAnany, Patricia A. and Isaac, Barry L., pp. 17–56. Research in Economic Anthropology Vol. 4. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula, Meierhoff, James, Golitko, Mark, and Kestle, Caleb 2013 An Analysis of pXRF Obsidian Source Attributions from Tikal, Guatemala. American Antiquity 24:72–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nazaroff, Adam J., Prufer, Keith M., and Drake, Brandon L. 2010 Assessing the Applicability of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry for Obsidian Provenance Research in the Maya Lowlands. Journal of Archaeological Science 37:885–895.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palumbo, Scott, Golitko, Mark, Christensen, Sarah, and Tietzer, Glenne 2015 Basalt Source Characterization in the Highlands of Western Panama Using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) Analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2:61–68. DOI:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.01.006.Google Scholar
Peniche May, Nancy 2016 Building Power: Political Dynamics in Cahal Pech, Belize during the Middle Preclassic. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego.Google Scholar
Peuramaki-Brown, Meaghan 2016 Settlement and Resource Development at Alabama, Belize: Past, Present, and Future Investigations. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 13:239–250.Google Scholar
Powis, Terry G., Skaggs, Sheldon, and Micheletti, George J. (editors) 2020 An Archaeological Reconstruction of Ancient Maya Life at Pacbitun, Belize. BAR International Series 2970. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rathje, William L. 1972 Praise the Gods and Pass the Metates: A Hypothesis of the Development of Lowland Rainforest Civilizations in Mesoamerica. In Contemporary Archaeology: A Guide to Theory and Contributions, edited by Leone, Mark P., pp. 365–392. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A., and Rathje, William L. 1975 The Rise of a Maya Merchant Class. Scientific American 233:72–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Joan S. 1993 Milling Implements: Biases and Problems in Their Use as Indicators of Prehistoric Behavior and Paleoenvironment. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 29(4):5–21.Google Scholar
Searcy, Michael T. 2011 The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology of Maya Metates. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Shackley, M. Steven (editor) 2011 X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarchaeology. Springer, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shugar, Aaron N., and Mass, Jennifer L. (editors) 2013 Handheld XRF for Art and Archaeology. Leuven University Press, Leuven, Belgium.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidrys, Raymond 1981 Reply to Hammond's “More on Obsidian Supply at Colha, Belize.” Current Anthropology 22:703–705.Google Scholar
Sidrys, Raymond, and Andresen, John 1976 Metate Import in Northern Belize . In Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, Thomas R. and Hammond, Norman, pp. 177–190. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Skaggs, Sheldon, Micheletti, George J., Lawrence, Michael, Cartagena, Nicaela, and Powis, Terry G. 2020 Identification of an Ancient Maya Groundstone Production Site in the Periphery of Pacbitun, Belize. In An Archaeological Reconstruction of Ancient Maya Life at Pacbitun, Belize, edited by Powis, Terry G., Skaggs, Sheldon, and Micheletti, George J., pp. 159–173. BAR International Series 2970. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Speakman, Robert J., and Shackley, M. Steven 2013 Silo Science and Portable XRF in Archaeology: A Response to Frahm. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:1435–1443. DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2012.09.033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spink, Mary 1982 Metates as Socioeconomic Indicators during the Classic Period at Copan, Honduras. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Stafford, Thomas W. 1999 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry 14C Dating of Human and Faunal Bone from the Mayan Lowlands, Belize. In Surviving Postclassic Maya Collapse–Belize, edited by Masson, Marilyn A, pp. 2–4. Report submitted to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI). Copies available at http://www.famsi.org/reports/96002/96002Masson01.pdf, accessed March 27, 2021.Google Scholar
Steiner, A. E., Conrey, R. M., and Wolff, J. A. 2017 PXRF Calibrations for Volcanic Rocks and the Application of In-Field Analysis to the Geosciences. Chemical Geology 453:35–54. DOI:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.01.023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thibodeau, Alyson M. 2004 Groundstone Tools from Ritual and Residential Contexts. In Sibun Valley from Late Classic through Colonial Times: Investigations of the 2003 Season of the Xibun Archaeological Project, edited by McAnany, Patricia A, Eleanor, Harrison-Buck, and Steven, Morandi, pp. 241–256. Report submitted to the Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Tibbits, Tawny L. B. 2015a Provenance Analysis of Ground Stone Tools from the Middle Belize Valley. In Investigations of the Belize River East Archaeology Project: A Report of the 2014 and 2015 Field Seasons, Vol. 2, edited by Harrison-Buck, Eleanor, pp. 48–57. Occasional Paper No. 7, Vols. 1–2. University of New Hampshire, Durham. Report submitted to the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Copies available at https://brea-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BREA_2014-15_reportV2_Reduced_Size.pdf, accessed March 15, 2021.Google Scholar
Tibbits, Tawny L. B. 2015b Preliminary Geochemical Analysis of Granite Artifacts and Debitage. In Pacbitun Regional Archaeological Project (PRAP): Report on the 2014 Season, edited by Powis, Terry G., pp. 72–88. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia. Report submitted to the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Copies available at www.pacbitunarchaeology.com, accessed June 14, 2021.Google Scholar
Tibbits, Tawny L. B. 2016 Geochemical Sourcing of Granite Ground Stone Tools from Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Ward, Drew T. 2013 Investigations of a Ground Stone Tool Workshop at Pacbitun, Belize. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Georgia State University, Atlanta.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R. 1972 The Artifacts of Altar de Sacrificios, Vol. 1. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 64, No. 1. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R., William, R. Bullard, John B. Jr. Glass, and James C.Gifford, 1965 Prehistoric Maya Settlements in the Belize Valley. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 54. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Brouwer Burg et al. supplementary material

Brouwer Burg et al. supplementary material

Download Brouwer Burg et al. supplementary material(File)
File 920.6 KB