When Che’ (wood) meets tun (stone): Experimental programs and functional analysis of stone tools. The case of the Classic Maya site of Cancuén (Guatemala)

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The importance of plant resources in Maya economies during the colonial and modern periods is widely recorded in ethno-historical and ethnographic studies. However, it is still difficult to determine the place of these resources in the Classic period, especially because of poor preservation of perishable materials. We propose in this article a study of the function of lithic tools from the site of Cancuén (Guatemala), a site that, because of its short chronology, is an ideal case study for determining spatial distribution of activities within a city. For this, we carried out experiments on the working of several species of wood and a gourd specific to Central America, to constitute a frame of reference for traces that are appropriate to the study of pre-Columbian populations.The functional analysis of a sample of flint drills and obsidian blades from this site indicates the importance of activities related to the working of wood. It is particularly through study of the blades that we may identify these activities in contexts that are domestic as well as ceremonial, public or for artisanal production. This analysis enables reflection on the possibility of the existence of multicrafting zones and on the type of tools used for working wood.