Lithic artifacts from Cerros, Belize: Production, consumption, and trade

Cerros is located in Northern Belize, on the small peninsula of Lowry's Bight across the bay from the modern town of Corozaltown. The site was occupied by the Maya primarily during the Late Preclassic period. This study presents the results of an analysis of the chipped stone artifacts recovered during the excavations of the site from 1974 through 1981. More than 2,000 chipped stone tools were recovered from all contexts at the site.; Northern Belize is an area characterized by the occurrence of high quality chert; however, the chert is restricted to certain locations within the region. Cerros is not located within the "chert bearing" zone but had access to lithic artifacts produced in workshop sites such as Colha, which were located in the zone. This study provides descriptions of the stone artifacts from the sites and then examines the production and distribution systems that brought the artifacts into the site.; The data from Cerros suggests that the residents of the site received both finished tools and blank forms of raw material which were produced in the Colha workshops. They also used sources of local chalcedony and may have had access to other sources of high quality chert artifacts and raw material. The analysis has provided insights into the regional distribution systems which were used by the ancient Maya in Northern Belize.; Cerros has been viewed as a coastal trade center which participated in long distance interregional exchange networks that brought exotics into the Maya lowlands from source areas in highland Quatemala. The lithic analysis suggests that during the early part of the Late Preclassic period, Cerros functioned as a small trading station on these routes. Because of its location at the juncture of the coastal network and a riverine system which connected the Northern Belizean communities in a regional exchange network, the residents of Cerros were able to expand their role in the trading network and transform their community into the primary center in one of the Late Preclassic polities in Northern Belize.