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Stone raw material in the past was often extracted, processed, and used by different individuals. The relationships among these practices make quarries important spaces for understanding how economic interactions function within society and what role access to resources plays in economic organization. This paper addresses the acquisition of raw materials through a focus on chert and limestone quarrying practices in the Maya area. Using three Classic period (200–950 a.d.) case studies from different sub-regions of the Maya lowlands, we highlight both shared and distinct practices and illustrate the roles that these extraction spaces played within Classic Maya economies. We find that heterogeneous aspects of quarrying techniques throughout the Maya lowlands result from variability in local geologic conditions, management structures, and the intended uses of the raw materials. As a result, this paper establishes methods for archaeologists to integrate quarries into their studies of past economies and anthropogenic landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stone tool producers in the Maya Lowlands had several types of raw materials from which to choose. Limestone, chert, and obsidian are the most naturally abundant, whereas chert and obsidian outnumber limestone in archaeological contexts. The presence of flaked-stone tools made of limestone is typically attributed to the scarcity of more suitable raw materials. Nevertheless, in chert-rich areas, such as the upper Belize River valley, limestone bifaces and production debitage are present. To understand their presence, we examine limestone biface production and use at Buenavista del Cayo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]