| Zacpeten is a Lowland Maya site in the Central Peten Lakes Basin of Guatemala that was an important center for the Kowoj, a Maya ethnic group with strong ties to Mayapan. The purpose of this study is to examine how Zacpeten functioned to meet its economic needs while creating and sustaining a communal identity between the Postclassic (A.D. 1250 to 1540) and Early Colonial (A.D. 1541 to 1697) periods. At this time, a complex political economy existed across the Maya Lowlands. However, social and economic connections across the Central Peten varied according to the degree of regional political integration. When communities were united under a single polity, economic and political power was vested in regional institutions, and the identity of individual communities was strongly influenced by outside forces. In periods of socio-economic autonomy, the relations of production were retained by individual communities, facilitating the formation of a localized identity.;Under an interactional perspective, communities are seen as the combination of people, place, and premise created through regularized, but not predetermined, interactions. By looking at the archaeological record, the interactions of the past can be inferred from the study of lithic artifacts. The Zacpeten lithics were examined according to their physical, geochemical, technological, use-wear, and spatial attributes. Based on this analysis, it is argued that the acquisition, production, and distribution of stone tools at Zacpeten during the Late Postclassic and Early Colonial periods were highly autonomous, community-based activities. Most of the stone tools at Zacpeten were produced and used by individual households, though several cottage industries in the community specialized in the production of obsidian blades, chert bifaces, and millstone tools. Through community interactions, the Kowoj at Zacpeten made clear attempts to maintain their own identity despite regional influences exerted by Itza during the Late Postclassic Period and the Spanish during the Early Colonial Period. As the Kowoj interacted through economic activities associated with the production and distribution of stone tools, a highly localized identity was created and reinforced. |
