54 UNIT 1 PREHISPANIC MESOAMERICA
in the Isthmian region that had once been home to Olmecs, Late Formative devel-
opments include evidence for early use of long count dates and writing (see Chapter
11 and Figure 13.5).
The Late Formative period was a time of rapid population growth and cultural
development in the Mayan lowlands. During this period most of the traits that would
characterize Classic Mayan civilization developed. Communities that had been small-
scale, egalitarian villages grew into centers with large populations and massive civic-
ceremonial architecture.
The archaeological evidence from the Late Formative period is much more com-
plete in the Mayan area than for earlier periods, and it provides us with clues for un-
derstanding the important changes that were taking place in Mayan society. During
this period, the Mayas began to experiment with more intensive forms of agricul-
ture, digging irrigation canals and reclaiming wetlands by constructing raised fields.
Increased agricultural production allowed for even greater population growth. These
agricultural projects also point to more centralized control over labor. At some cen-
ters massive construction projects were undertaken. At El Mirador the tallest struc-
ture ever built in the Mayan area, La Danta, which rose to a height of 70m, was built
in the Late Formative period (see Box 1.3).Box 1.3 Mesoamerican TechnologyThe Mesoamericans are sometimes described as having employed a “Stone Age” technology be-
cause of the prevalence of stone tools and the very limited and late development of metallurgy.
Although this description is technically correct, it does not follow that Mesoamerican technology
was crude or simple. A brief look at two areas of technology—tools and agriculture—illustrates
some of the ingenuity and diversity of ancient Mesoamerican technological development.
With the exception of a small number of Postclassic cultures that used metal tools (see later),
Mesoamerican peoples relied upon chipped stone for such cutting tools as knives, drills, scrap-
ers, axes, arrow points, and swords, etc. The preferred stone was obsidian, a form of volcanic
glass. The primary tool, known as a prismatic blade, was difficult to manufacture, and it took ar-
chaeologists many years of experimentation to figure out how the Mesoamericans produced
them. The great benefit of prismatic blades was their sharpness; microscopic tests have shown
that these blades are often sharper than a modern surgeon’s scalpel (archaeologists who analyze
obsidian blades can be recognized from the bandages on their fingers!). Because of the great skill
required to make blades, obsidian knapping was probably a specialized occupation in ancient
Mesoamerica. The study of obsidian is helpful to archaeologists not only for its insights into tool
technology but also for the analysis of trade routes. Obsidian occurs only in a limited number of
highland locations, and each geological source has a distinct chemical profile or fingerprint that
allows artifacts to be traced to their point of origin.
Metallurgy was first developed in the New World in the Andes mountains of South Amer-
ica, where a tradition several thousand years old has been identified by archaeologists. The tech-
nology was introduced into Mesoamerica by contact with South American cultures. Gold and
silver working were brought into southern Mesoamerica during the Classic period from craftsper-
sons in Central America, and copper and bronze technology were introduced into western Mex-
ico in the Early Postclassic period through sea contact with South America. Once Mesoamerican