The Implements of the Blade House: The Function and Symbolic Significance of Laurel-leaf Bifaces from Caves in Central Belize

ABSTRACT

The ancient Maya produced chipped chert and obsidian tools for inclusion in religious rituals as both symbolic and/or functional implements. In this paper, we discuss one particular form of these special chipped stone tools – the large laurel-leaf biface. Laurel-leaf bifaces recovered from the cave sites of Actun Chapat, Actun Tunichil Mucnal, Actun Yaxteel Ahau, and Je’reftheel in central Belize are analyzed in terms of context, lithic raw material, production techniques, symbolism, and use-wear in order to better understand their role(s) as ceremonially significant items. When combined with ethnohistoric and ethnographic information, these analyses allow us to see laurel-leaf bifaces as both functional implements for and powerful symbols of sacrifice within ancient Maya ideology and worldview.

KEYWORDS:

• Chert
• laurel-leaf biface
• caves
• Maya
• sacrifice

Acknowledgments

Archaeological investigations of the sites included in this paper were conducted under the auspices of the Western Belize Regional Cave Project (WBRCP) under the direction of Jaime Awe, with permission from the Belize Institute of Archaeology, and with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We wish to extend our gratitude to all the members of the WBRCP for their hard work and dedication to our efforts, to Dr. Leszek Pawlowicz for the RTI images of the points, and to David and Eleonor Larson for assistance in mapping Actun Chapat.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.