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Animate Stone: Maya Chert ‘Debitage’ and Ontological Perspectives

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Abstract

Ethnographic and ethnohistoric research concerning Maya conceptions of stone illustrate that the Maya consider stone animate. In archaeology, discussions of animate stone focus on ritual contexts. ‘Utilitarian’ objects, like debitage, are recognized as symbolic when deposited in ritual spaces but not in quotidian ones. However, the animate nature of stone suggests that its significance should be discussed in quotidian contexts. We compare chert debitage from ritual and production areas in the Maya lowlands utilizing ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and epigraphic information about the agency of stone, specifically chert. These discussions highlight the integration of Indigenous perceptions of non-human objects in archaeology interpretation.

Résumé

La recherche ethnographique et ethno-historique relative aux conceptions Mayas de la pierre met en évidence que les Mayas la considèrent comme animée. En archéologie, les débats sur la pierre animée s'intéressent aux contextes rituels. Les objets "utilitaires", tels que le débitage, sont distingués comme symboliques lorsqu'ils sont déposés dans des espaces rituels, mais pas dans ceux du quotidien. Toutefois, la nature animée de la pierre suggère que sa signification doit être discutée dans des contextes quotidiens. Nous comparons le débitage de chaille issu de régions rituelles et de production dans les plaines mayas en nous appuyant sur des informations ethnographiques, ethno-historiques et épigraphiques portant sur le travail de la pierre, en particulier la chaille. Ces discussions mettent l'accent sur l'intégration des perceptions indigènes quant aux objets non-humains au sein de l'interprétation archéologique.

Resumen

Las investigaciones etnográficas y etnohistóricas sobre las concepciones mayas de la piedra ilustran que los mayas consideran animada la piedra. En arqueología, las discusiones sobre piedras animadas se centran en contextos rituales. Los objetos “utilitarios”, como el lascado, se reconocen como simbólicos cuando se depositan en espacios rituales, pero no en espacios cotidianos. Sin embargo, la naturaleza animada de la piedra sugiere que su significado debería discutirse en contextos cotidianos. Comparamos el lascado de pedernal de áreas rituales y de producción en las tierras bajas mayas utilizando información etnográfica, etnohistórica y epigráfica sobre la acción de la piedra, específicamente el pedernal. Estas discusiones resaltan la integración de las percepciones indígenas de objetos no humanos en la interpretación arqueológica.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for excavations at the Manzanero Lithic Workshop were provided by the Rust Family Foundation (RFF 2021-153; Horowitz) and the Bergen Excellence in Archaeology Fund from the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University (Horowitz). Funding for excavations at Arenal and Buenavista were provided by the Alphawood Foundation, Ben and Trudy Tremini, and the University of Texas at San Antonio (Brown and Yaeger). Permissions for these excavations and laboratory analyses were provided by the Belize Institute of Archaeology and we thank the past and present directors for their support of this research. Thanks also to the peoples of Succotz and Calla Creek who made this research possible. Many thanks to Kathy Weedman Arthur and Ran Barkai, the editors of the special issue, for the invitation to the conference from which it stems, which prompted us to write this article. Conversations with the other conference participants provided insights which made the writing of this article possible. Detailed comments from two anonymous reviewers improved the quality of the paper, and many thanks to Joyce Bennett for her comments and suggestions of readings on ethnographic works on this topic.

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  1. Washington State University, 150 College Hall, PO Box 644910, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Rachel A. Horowitz

  2. University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    M. Kathryn Brown & Jason Yaeger

  3. San Antonio College, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Bernadette Cap

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  1. Rachel A. Horowitz
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Horowitz, R.A., Brown, M.K., Yaeger, J. et al. Animate Stone: Maya Chert ‘Debitage’ and Ontological Perspectives. Arch 20, 177–213 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-024-09497-6

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