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Prismatic Blademaking, Craftsmanship, and Production

An analysis of obsidian refuse from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

John E. Clark
John E. Clark
Affiliation:
New World Archaeological Foundation, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
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Abstract

Artifacts from an obsidian-blade workshop dump from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico, are analyzed to determine levels of craftsmanship and craft specialization. Detailed consideration of knapping errors and rejuvenation flakes reveals that the blademaker at Ojo de Agua was moderately skilled at his craft, which he practiced on a part-time basis. The maximum level of output from his workshop was 26,000, or fewer, fine blades per year, or the equivalent of part-time work during a three-month period. Analysis of knapping strategies evident in the workshop debris suggests that the blademaker's overriding strategy was to achieve a balance between effort and knapping risk at the expense of raw material. Access to obsidian cores does not appear to have been a concern, as little effort was made to economize in this respect, and thousands of usable, irregular blades were discarded in the workshop refuse.

Type
Special Section: Recent Research on Obsidian in Mesoamerica
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997 , pp. 137 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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