Pre-Maya Lithic Technology in the Wetlands of Belize: The Chipped Stone from Crawford Bank. (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stemp, W. James; Harrison-Buck, Eleanor
• Is Part Of: Lithic technology. Volume 44:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 183
• Page End: 198
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: Preceramic/Archaic -- lithics -- chert -- use-wear -- debitage -- ad hoc/expedient -- wetlands -- Mesoamerica; Stone implements -- Periodicals; Tools, Prehistoric -- Periodicals; Antiquities, Prehistoric -- Periodicals; 621.9009012
• DOI: 10.1080/01977261.2019.1629173
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0197-7261

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Excavations at Crawford Bank in Crooked Tree, Belize, exposed a lithic deposit with no associated ceramics. The deposit primarily consists of chipped chert and chalcedony tools and debitage, as well as a small number of worked slate fragments. Most of the chert likely sources to the Northern Belize Chert-bearing Zone (NBCZ). The recovery of two Archaic period formal tools – a Lowe point and a constricted uniface/trimmed macroblade – suggests a pre-Maya occupation. Use-wear analysis of both tools and debitage demonstrates a wide range of uses with a focus on wood and hard contact materials. The use-wear patterns demonstrate a heavy reliance on ad hoc /expedient technology for the completion of different tasks involving wood by preceramic peoples. The Crawford Bank site likely represents one or more short-term, task-orientated preceramic occupation(s) for the extraction and use of the available resources of the local wetland environment, most notably logwood.