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acase@tulane.edu / Given that the economy involves all actors in a society, anthropological archaeology studies of the economy tend to be reductionist in their modelling, particularly of the ancient Maya, as by failing to examine certain segments of the ancient economy the full range of questions and complexities concerning economic interactions cannot be addressed. While much of the current framework for studying the past economy is due to the fragmentary nature of the archaeological record, traditional approaches tend to emphasize top-down studies, focusing on elites and their use of the economy for obtaining and maintaining power, and bottom-up studies which focus on the economic independence of small-scale farmers and householders. Studies of the economy should take a middle ground as it should be seen as a system of multiple economies in which different goods circulated. This dissertation seeks to model the multiple ways economies articulated in the past focusing on utilitarian goods which circulated through different economies. The articulation of economies becomes apparent through studies of the extraction and production of raw materials as access to and exchange of such goods occurs at the intersection of various economies. This dissertation asks, what was the relative role of various actors in the management of raw materials for utilitarian resource production? Examining the access to materials for utilitarian goods highlights the variability in economic practices and the involvement of actors of varying socio-economic statuses in lowland Maya economies. This dissertation focuses on lithic production at a chert quarry and production area in the upper Belize River valley of western Belize during the Late to Terminal Classic Periods (A.D. 670-890). This dissertation finds that local residents managed resources to produce utilitarian tools, indicating economies were a source of integration with and insulation from regional political dynamics. These data suggest we should view lowland Maya economies as complex systems where individuals of different socio-economic statuses negotiated wealth and power. / 1 / Rachel A. Horowitz

The reason and significance of variation in material culture is one of the most fundamental debates in archaeological studies. These debates factor strongly into Levantine Epipalaeolithic research, where the morphological variability of microlithic tools has been interpreted to represent distinct cultural or ethnic communities. This dissertation addresses microlith variability during the Middle Epipalaeolithic (≈17,500 – 14,600 cal BP) through the analysis of lithic assemblages from Wadi Mataha, ‘Uyun al-Hammâm, and Kharaneh IV (Jordan). Although regionally disparate, the lithic assemblages are characterized by the same geometric microlith type: the trapeze-rectangle. The integration of typological, technological, morphometric, and use-wear analyses allows for the subtleties in material culture to be explored among these sites. In addition to these analyses, new methods for use-wear quantification are presented. This dissertation sets out to test several hypotheses in regards to the microlith assemblages: 1) microliths will have overlapping functions, indicating that function does not drive form; and 2) microliths will show differences in technological style. These hypotheses relate back to current debates in Epipalaeolithic research about the nature of microlith variability. Is variation in microlith morphology the product of different technological sequences of production or microlith function? Or is variability the result of different cultural practices? This material culture variability is explored through the lens of the chaîne opératoire, where I advocate for the inclusion of functional analysis into our study of lithic assemblages. Through the integration of multiple methods, I suggest there is not a direct correlation between microlith form and function. Instead, the variability we witness in microliths during the Middle Epipalaeolithic is the result of local expressions within different communities.

The reason and significance of variation in material culture is one of the most fundamental debates in archaeological studies. These debates factor strongly into Levantine Epipalaeolithic research, where the morphological variability of microlithic tools has been interpreted to represent distinct cultural or ethnic communities. This dissertation addresses microlith variability during the Middle Epipalaeolithic (≈17,500 – 14,600 cal BP) through the analysis of lithic assemblages from Wadi Mataha, ‘Uyun al-Hammâm, and Kharaneh IV (Jordan). Although regionally disparate, the lithic assemblages are characterized by the same geometric microlith type: the trapeze-rectangle. The integration of typological, technological, morphometric, and use-wear analyses allows for the subtleties in material culture to be explored among these sites. In addition to these analyses, new methods for use-wear quantification are presented. This dissertation sets out to test several hypotheses in regards to the microlith assemblages: 1) microliths will have overlapping functions, indicating that function does not drive form; and 2) microliths will show differences in technological style. These hypotheses relate back to current debates in Epipalaeolithic research about the nature of microlith variability. Is variation in microlith morphology the product of different technological sequences of production or microlith function? Or is variability the result of different cultural practices? This material culture variability is explored through the lens of the chaîne opératoire, where I advocate for the inclusion of functional analysis into our study of lithic assemblages. Through the integration of multiple methods, I suggest there is not a direct correlation between microlith form and function. Instead, the variability we witness in microliths during the Middle Epipalaeolithic is the result of local expressions within different communities.

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Quarries are fixed locationally, whereas most seasonally abundant food resources in northern latitudes are not. Toolstone procurement must therefore be ‘factored in’ to other resource procurement strategies. As sources of useable toolstone, quarries are the logical starting point for the study of how stone tool-using societies organized their technologies in accordance with their subsistence and social needs. Yet they have often been ignored by archaeologists because of the logistical problems presented by their typically enormous and variable assemblages. Quartz differs from more common, crypto-crystalline raw materials such as chert, flint or chalcedony. It is harder, more brittle, and has different fracture properties. It is less common archaeologically than crypto-crystalline toolstone, and archaeologists tend to either avoid quartz assemblages altogether, or to automatically and uncritically analyze them in the same manner as crypto-crystalline toolstones without considering their different properties. The Grandfather Quarry (HbMd-4) offers an opportunity to address these problems at once. Using Lithic Technological Organization theory, a mass analysis (after Ahler 1989), modified and combined with an attribute analysis, demonstrates that this method is a useful tool for examining large, complex assemblages such as those found in quarry sites. While more time-consuming and labour-intensive than a standard mass analysis, the modified version allows for the collection of a large number of attribute data that lend robusticity to the results and provide academic rigour. This research also demonstrates that quartz assemblages can indeed be examined using the same methods as for other raw materials, provided the unique properties of quartz as a toolstone are considered. It is shown that although the overall quality of toolstone from this source is quite poor, the Grandfather Quarry was likely the only reliable source, or at least one of a very few reliable sources, of quartz toolstone in the Churchill River Basin. All useable toolstone was intensively exploited, but rare nodules of higher quality quartz were set aside for in situ reduction into cores, tools and bifaces. Lastly, the unexpected discovery of microblade technology at the quarry opens new avenues for future research in the northern Manitoba Boreal Forest.

Quarries are fixed locationally, whereas most seasonally abundant food resources in northern latitudes are not. Toolstone procurement must therefore be ‘factored in’ to other resource procurement strategies. As sources of useable toolstone, quarries are the logical starting point for the study of how stone tool-using societies organized their technologies in accordance with their subsistence and social needs. Yet they have often been ignored by archaeologists because of the logistical problems presented by their typically enormous and variable assemblages. Quartz differs from more common, crypto-crystalline raw materials such as chert, flint or chalcedony. It is harder, more brittle, and has different fracture properties. It is less common archaeologically than crypto-crystalline toolstone, and archaeologists tend to either avoid quartz assemblages altogether, or to automatically and uncritically analyze them in the same manner as crypto-crystalline toolstones without considering their different properties. The Grandfather Quarry (HbMd-4) offers an opportunity to address these problems at once. Using Lithic Technological Organization theory, a mass analysis (after Ahler 1989), modified and combined with an attribute analysis, demonstrates that this method is a useful tool for examining large, complex assemblages such as those found in quarry sites. While more time-consuming and labour-intensive than a standard mass analysis, the modified version allows for the collection of a large number of attribute data that lend robusticity to the results and provide academic rigour. This research also demonstrates that quartz assemblages can indeed be examined using the same methods as for other raw materials, provided the unique properties of quartz as a toolstone are considered. It is shown that although the overall quality of toolstone from this source is quite poor, the Grandfather Quarry was likely the only reliable source, or at least one of a very few reliable sources, of quartz toolstone in the Churchill River Basin. All useable toolstone was intensively exploited, but rare nodules of higher quality quartz were set aside for in situ reduction into cores, tools and bifaces. Lastly, the unexpected discovery of microblade technology at the quarry opens new avenues for future research in the northern Manitoba Boreal Forest.

This study represents the first of its kind to examine an extensive lithic debitage assemblage from a Late Dorset inland occupation. The assemblage derives from an isolated Late Dorset component at the LdFa-1 site, located along the northwest shore of Mingo Lake in the deep interior of southern Baffin Island. A study sample of 7,479 lithic debitage is systematically drawn and analyzed using two methodological approaches: individual attribute analysis and mass analysis. Patterns of variability derived from the analysis are isolated and interpreted within a technological organizational framework to identify Late Dorset lithic reduction and use strategies at the site. Using a multi-scalar approach, these results are then compared to those obtained from two inland Pre-Dorset sites, known as Sandy Point (LlDv-10) and Mosquito Ridge (MaDv-11) to draw some conclusions about how Palaeo-Eskimo populations more broadly organized their lithic technologies and used this terrestrial landscape over time.

This dissertation explores the inter-relatedness of lithic technology and human mobility in the ancient central North American Arctic. Palaeo-Eskimo populations inhabited southeastern Victoria Island, Nunavut, discontinuously for over three thousand years. During this time, Palaeo-Eskimo lifeways are believed to have changed significantly in regards to subsistence economy, settlement patterns, interaction patterns, and mobility. One of the most significant changes is a marked decrease in the scale and frequency of human mobility and an increase in the re-occupation of seasonal camps. Palaeo-Eskimo material culture is observed to undergo important changes at the same time; consequently, one wonders what influence(s) mobility may have effected on the form and nature of Palaeo-Eskimo material culture. This work examines the potential influence of human mobility on lithic technology in the Pre-Dorset, Early Dorset, and Middle Dorset periods as evidenced by lithic assemblages from nine archaeological sites and site components in the Iqaluktuuq (Ekalluk River) region of Victoria Island. Over 800 formal tools and 30000 pieces of debitage were examined and analyzed according to two interpretive frameworks: one technological and the other mobility-related. The technological analyses demonstrate that significant changes took place in lithic production and maintenance processes during the Palaeo-Eskimo period. The mobility-related analyses demonstrate that, while many of the changes to lithic technological organization are consistent with expected trends resulting from a decrease in human mobility, not all aspects of Palaeo-Eskimo lithic tool production, maintenance and use appear to have been similarly influenced by this change in mobility.

This dissertation explores the inter-relatedness of lithic technology and human mobility in the ancient central North American Arctic. Palaeo-Eskimo populations inhabited southeastern Victoria Island, Nunavut, discontinuously for over three thousand years. During this time, Palaeo-Eskimo lifeways are believed to have changed significantly in regards to subsistence economy, settlement patterns, interaction patterns, and mobility. One of the most significant changes is a marked decrease in the scale and frequency of human mobility and an increase in the re-occupation of seasonal camps. Palaeo-Eskimo material culture is observed to undergo important changes at the same time; consequently, one wonders what influence(s) mobility may have effected on the form and nature of Palaeo-Eskimo material culture. This work examines the potential influence of human mobility on lithic technology in the Pre-Dorset, Early Dorset, and Middle Dorset periods as evidenced by lithic assemblages from nine archaeological sites and site components in the Iqaluktuuq (Ekalluk River) region of Victoria Island. Over 800 formal tools and 30000 pieces of debitage were examined and analyzed according to two interpretive frameworks: one technological and the other mobility-related. The technological analyses demonstrate that significant changes took place in lithic production and maintenance processes during the Palaeo-Eskimo period. The mobility-related analyses demonstrate that, while many of the changes to lithic technological organization are consistent with expected trends resulting from a decrease in human mobility, not all aspects of Palaeo-Eskimo lithic tool production, maintenance and use appear to have been similarly influenced by this change in mobility.