INVESTIGATING GRANITE TOOL PRODUCTION ON PACBITUN’S WESTERN PERIPHERY

Abstract

Between 2012 and 2015, investigations into a small mound with mano blanks and granite debitage on its surface introduced the possibility that intensive granite tool production took place on Pacbitun’s western periphery. Those investigations revealed the mound was an accumulation of granite sand, debitage, and chert tools consistent with ethnographic examples of mano and metate production. However, the amount of granite debris suggested some 4000 manos and metates were produced during the use life of the mound. In 2015 and subsequent seasons, an additional three similar granite debris mounds were confirmed through limited testing. In 2021, a research project was initiated focused on understanding the extent, dating, and organization of granite tool production at Pacbitun. This paper reports survey and testing efforts that have revealed what appears to be a granite tool producing community cover some 1km2 and dating to the Late Classic period just west of Pacbitun’s epicenter.