Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T05:19:39.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transport Costs, Consumer Demand, and Patterns of Intraregional Exchange: A Perspective on Commodity Production and Distribution from Northern Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Lenore Santone
Lenore Santone*
Affiliation:
GAI Consultants, 570 Beatty Road, Monroeville, PA 15146
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Este artículo intenta definir áreas de consumo primarias y periféricas formales que se producían en Colha, en vista de las opciones de transporte y demanda del consumidor. Por medio de un modelo de presencia/ausencia, se examinan conjuntos líticos de 29 sitios del Preclásico Tardío y el Clásico Tardío en el norte de Belice buscando evidencia de variación en la demanda del consumidor según los periodos y según la proximidad a las vías acuáticas naturales. Durante el Preclásico Tardío, la más grande diversidad de herramientas formales ocurrió en los sitios que se sitúan al noroeste de Colha. Durante el Clásico Tardío la demanda por la herramientas formales de Colha se manifiesta en un mayor número de sitios que se sitúan a una distancia más grande y en todas direcciones del centro de producción. La comparación de la distribución de herramientas formales de pedernal, basada ya sea en el transporte terrestre o acuático, parece indicar que el uso de las vías acuáticas internas o marítimas (costeñas) se incrementó significativamente el tamaño del sistema de intercambio local. Los resultados de este estudio ilustran el significado de las rutas naturales de transporte como recursos explotables y en el desarrollo del sistema de intercambio local.

This paper attempts to refine recognized primary and peripheral consumer areas of Colha-produced chipped-stone tools in light of prehistoric transportation options and consumer demand. Using a presence/absence model, lithic assemblages from 29 Late Preclassic and Late Classic sites in northern Belize are examined for evidence of variation in demand structures by period and by proximity to natural waterborne transport routes. During the Late Preclassic the greatest diversity of chippedstone tools occurred at sites located northwest of the production center, while during the Late Classic demand for Colha-produced stone tools was present at a larger number of sites located at greater distances from Colha in all directions. Comparison of artifact distributional patterning within northern Belize and adjacent regions according to transportation routes indicates that use of inland and/or coastal waterways significantly increased the size of the local distributional system for Colha-produced formal tools. The results of this study illustrate the significance of natural transportation routes as exploitable resources and in the development of local intraregional exchange networks.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 1997 , pp. 71 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1997

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

Aldenderfer, M. S. 1991 The Structure of Late Classic Lithic Assemblages in the Central Petén Lakes Region, Guatemala. In Maya Stone Tools, Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, edited by T. R. Hester and H. J. Shafer, pp. 119–141. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Andrews, A. P. 1983 Maya Salt Production and Trade. University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Ashmore, W. 1988 Household and Community at Classic Quirigua. In Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past, edited by R. Wilk and W. Ashmore, pp. 153–171. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Beaudry, M. P. 1984 Ceramic Production and Distribution in the Southeastern Maya Periphery, BAR International Series 203. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Bullard, W. R. Jr. 1965 Stratigraphic Excavations at San Estevan, Northern British Honduras. Occasional Paper No. 9. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario.Google Scholar
Bullard, W. R. Jr., and Bullard, M. R. 1965 Late Classic Finds at Baking Pot, British Honduras. Occasional Paper No. 8. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario.Google Scholar
Coe, W. R. 1957 A Distinctive Artifact Common to Haiti and Central America. American Antiquity 22:280–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dockall, J. E., and Shafer, H. J. 1993 Testing the Producer-Consumer Model for Santa Rita Corozal, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 4:158–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drennan, R. D. 1984 Long Distance Transport Costs in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. American Anthropologist 86:105–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drollinger, H. D. Jr. 1989 An Investigation of a Late Preclassic Maya Chert Workshop from Colha, Belize. Unpublished Master's thesis. Texas A & M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Ford, A., and Olson, K. 1989 Aspects of Ancient Maya Household Economy: Variation in Chipped Stone Production and Consumption. In Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize, edited by P. McAnany and B. L. Isaac, pp. 185–214. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Fry, R. E. 1979 The Economics of Pottery at Tikal, Guatemala: Models of Exchange for Serving Vessels. American Antiquity 44:494–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fry, R. E. 1980 Models of Exchange for Major Shape Classes of Lowland Maya Pottery. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by R. E. Fry, pp. 3–18. Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Fry, R. E. 1989 Regional Ceramic Distributional Patterning in Northern Belize: The View from Pulltrouser Swamp. In Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize, edited by P. A. McAnany and B. L. Isaac, pp. 91–111. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Fry, R. E., and Cox, S. C. 1974 The Structure of Ceramic Exchange at Tikal, Guatemala. World Archaeology 6:209–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gann, T. W. 1938 Finds in Maya Mounds: New Discoveries in British Honduras. Illustrated London News 22(January): 121–123.Google Scholar
Gann, T. W., and Gann, M. 1939 Archaeological Investigations in the Corozal District of British Honduras. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 123, Anthropological Papers No. 7. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Gibson, E. C. 1989 The Organization of Late Preclassic Maya Lithic Economy in the Eastern Lowlands. In Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize, edited by P. A. McAnany and B. L. Isaac, pp. 115–138. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1991 Cuello: An Early Maya Community in Belize. Cambridge University Press, London.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. (editor) 1973 British Museum-Cambridge University Corozal Project: 1973 Interim Report. British Museum, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hammond, N., Doughey, S., Gleason, C., Staneko, J. C., van Tuerenhout, D., and Kosakowsky, L. 1987 Excavations at Nohmul, Belize 1985. Journal of Field Archaeology 14:257–281.Google Scholar
Hassig, R. 1985 Trade, Tribute, and Transportation: The Sixteenth Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Healy, P. E. 1990 Excavations at Pacbitun, Belize: Preliminary Report on 1986 and 1987 Investigations. Journal of Field Archaeology 17:247–262.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R. 1983 Notes on the Archaeological Lithics from Moho Cay Belize. Unpublished notes on file at the Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R. 1985 The Maya Lithic Sequence in Northern Belize. In Stone Tool Analysis: Essays in Honor of Don E. Crabtree, edited by M. G. Plew, J. C. Woods, and M. G. Pavesic, pp. 187–210. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R., and Hammond, N. (editors) 1976 Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R., and Shafer, H. J. 1984 Exploitation of Chert Resources by the Ancient Maya of Northern Belize, C.A. World Archaeology 16:157–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hester, T. R., and Shafer, H. J. 1987 Observations on Ancient Maya Core Technology at Colha, Belize. In The Organization of Core Technology, edited by J. K. Johnson and C. A. Morrow, pp. 239–257. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R., and Shafer, H. J. 1989 The Ancient Maya Craft Community at Colha, Belize and Its External Relationships. Texas Papers on Latin America No. 89-11. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R., and Shafer, H. J. 1992 Lithic Workshops Revisited: Comments on Moholy-Nagy. Latin American Antiquity 3:243–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hester, T. R., and Shafer, H. J. 1994 The Ancient Maya Craft Community at Colha, Belize and Its External Relationships. In Village Communities in Early Complex Societies, edited by S. Falconer and G. Schwartz, pp. 121–139. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.Google Scholar
Hester, T. R., Shafer, H. J., and Berry, T. 1991 Technological and Comparative Analyses of the Chipped Stone Artifacts from El Pozito, Belize. In Maya Stone Tools, Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, edited by T. R. Hester and H. J. Shafer, pp. 67–84. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Hult, W., and Hester, T. R. 1993 The Ambergris Cay Lithics. Manuscript on file at Texas Archaeological Research Labs, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Jacob, J. S., and Hallmark, C. T. 1996 Holocene Stratigraphy of Cobweb Swamp, A Maya Wetland in Northern Belize. Geological Society of America Bulletin, in press.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, T. 1969 The Artifacts of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation 26. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.Google Scholar
Lewenstein, S. M. 1987 Stone Tool Use at Cerros, the Ethnoarchaeological and Use Wear Evidence. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1987 Lithic Technology and Exchange Among Wetland Farmers of the Eastern Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1989a Economic Foundations of Prehistoric Maya Society: Paradigms and Concepts. In Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize, edited by P. A. McAnany and B. L. Isaac, pp. 347–372. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1989b Stone-Tool Production and Exchange in the Eastern Maya Lowlands: The Consumer Perspective from Pulltrouser Swamp, Belize. American Antiquity 54:332–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAnany, P. A. 1993 Resources, Specialization, and Exchange in the Maya Lowlands. In Prehistoric Exchange Systems in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica, edited by J. E. Ericson and T. G. Baugh, pp. 213–245. Plenum Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKillop, H. I. 1980 Moho Cay, Belize: Preliminary Investigations of Trade, Settlement, and Marine Resource Exploitation. Master's thesis, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
McSwain, R. 1991 Chert and Chalcedony Tools. In Cuello: An Early Maya Community in Belize, edited by N. Hammond, pp. 160–173. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Masson, M. A. 1989 Lithic Production Changes in Late Classic Maya Workshops at Colha, Belize: A Study of Debitage Variation. Unpublished Master's thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee.Google Scholar
Masson, M. A. 1993 Changes in Maya Community Organization from the Classic to Postclassic Periods: A View from Laguna de On, Belize. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, Austin. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Matthews, P. 1991 Classic Maya Emblem Glyphs. In Classic Maya Political History, Hieroglyphic and Archaeological Evidence, edited by T. P. Culbert, pp. 19–19. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Meighan, C. W., and Bennyhoff, J. A. 1952 Excavations in British Honduras. Manuscript on file at Texas Archaeological Research Lab, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Mitchum, B. A. 1986 Chipped Stone Artifacts. In Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America: Volume I, An Interim Report, edited by R. A. Robertson and D. A. Freidel, pp. 105–115. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.Google Scholar
Mitchum, B. A. 1991 Lithic Artifacts from Cerros Belize: Production, Consumption, and Trade. In Maya Stone Tools, Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, edited by T. R. Hester and H. J. Shafer, pp. 45–54. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Mitchum, B. A. 1994 Lithic Artifacts from Cerros Belize: Production, Consumption, and Trade. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Mock, S. 1991 The Late-Terminal Classic Occupation at Northern River Lagoon: Analysis of Chert and Obsidian Artifacts. Manuscript on file at the Texas Archaeological Research Lab, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, H. 1976 Spatial Distribution of Flint and Obsidian Artifacts at Tikal, Guatemala. In Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, pp. 91–108. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Nash, M. A. 1985 A Functional Analysis of Two Lithic Collections from Colha, Belize. Unpublished Master's thesis, Texas A & M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Pendergast, D. L. 1979 Excavations at Altun Ha, Belize, 1970–1974: Volume 1. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario.Google Scholar
Pendergast, D. L. 1981 Lamanai, Belize: Summary of Excavation Results, 1974–1980. Journal of Field Archaeology 8:29–53.Google Scholar
Pendergast, D. L. 1982 Excavations at Altun Ha, Belize, 1970–1974: Volume 2. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario.Google Scholar
Rands, R. L., and Bishop, R. L. 1980 Resource Procurement Zones and Patterns of Ceramic Exchange in the Palenque Region, Mexico. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by R. E. Fry, pp. 19–45. Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Reina, R. E., and Hill, R. M. II 1978 The Traditional Pottery of Guatemala. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1987 Economic Change in the Lowland Maya Late Classic Period. In Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies, edited by E. M. Brumfiel and T. K. Earle, pp. 76–85. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Roemer, E. Jr. 1984 A Late Classic Maya Lithic Workshop at Colha, Belize. Unpublished Master's thesis. Texas A & M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Santone, L. M. 1993 Demand Structure, Transport Costs, and Patterns of Intraregional Exchange: Aspects of the Prehistoric Lithic Economy of Northern Belize. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, Austin. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Scarborough, V. L. 1991 Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America, Volume III: The Settlement System in a Late Preclassic Maya Community. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1979 A Technological Study of Two Maya Lithic Workshops at Colha, Belize. In The Colha Project 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by T. R. Hester, pp. 28–78. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1982 A Preliminary Report on the Lithic Technology at Kichpanha, Northern Belize. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize: The 1981 Interim Report, edited by T. R. Hester, H. J. Shafer, and J. D. Eaton, pp. 167–181. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1983 The Lithic Artifacts of the Pulltrouser Area: Settlement and Fields. In Pulltrouser Swamp: Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize, edited by B. L. Turner II and P. D. Harrison, pp. 212–245. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, H. J. 1985 A Technological Study of Two Maya Lithic Workshops at Colha, Belize. In Stone Tool Analysis: Essays in Honor of Don E. Crabtree, edited by M. G. Pavesic, M. E. Plew, and J. C. Woods, pp. 211–243. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J., and Hester, T. R. 1983 Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize, C.A. American Antiquity 48:519–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, H. J., and Hester, T. R. 1986 Maya Tool Craft Specialization and Production at Colha, Belize: A Reply to Mallory. American Antiquity 51:158–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, H. J., and Hester, T. R. 1991 Lithic Craft Specialization and Production Distribution at the Maya Site of Colha, Belize. World Archaeology 23:79–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, H. J., Hester, T. R., Kelly, T. C., and Hammond, N. 1981 An Analysis of Lithic Artifacts from Cuello, Belize. Manuscript on file at Texas Archaeological Research Lab, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Sidrys, R. 1977 Mass-Distance Measures for the Maya Obsidian Trade. In Exchange Systems in Prehistory, edited by T. K. Earle and J. E. Ericson, pp. 36–52. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. 1939 Excavations at San Jose, British Honduras. Publication No. 506. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Tobey, M. H. 1986 Trace Element Investigation of Maya Chert from Belize, Papers of the Colha Project Volume 1. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Vail, G. 1988 The Archaeology of Coastal Belize. BAR International Series 463. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilk, R. 1978 The Moho Cay Lithic Collection. Paper on file at the Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R., Bullard, W. R. Jr., Glass, J. B., and Gifford, J. C. 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