Crafting and Trade: Stone Tool Production and Ancient Maya Economies

Today, and in the past, economic activities are important ways of making connections between people. In the Maya area, modern-day Mexico and northern Central America, economies are less studied than other aspects of past Maya lifeways. In this talk, I use recently collected data about stone tool production to provide information about the Classic period Maya economy (600-900 CE). This lecture will use a case-study of stone tool producers western Belize to explore the lives of Classic period Maya stone tool producers, and how stone tools circulated throughout the economy.