The Use of Chipped Lithic Material in the Contemporary Maya Highlands

Abstract

Ethnoarchaeological work in the Mayan Highlands has revealed that some individuals continue to make and use chipped stone implements for the manufacture of manos and metates. As a result site formation processes, effects of resource distribution, and stone tool characteristics can still be studied. Chipped tools of industrial glass are also made and used in the area, and provide useful models for some of the prehistoric uses of flaked stone tools, as well as information relating to their storage, curation, discard, and learning contexts.