Over more than a century, archaeological research in Belize has contributed greatly to our understanding of past Maya stone and metal technologies. From the preceramic through the Colonial periods (~11,000 BC – AD 1700), the analysis of flaked and ground stone tools recovered from excavations in Belize has provided critical insights into ancient Maya subsistence and socio-economic and ideological behavior, while incorporating studies about raw material sources, quarrying, tool production, trade and exchange, tool function, ritual, and symbolism. In contrast to the ubiquity and longevity of stone tools in the archaeological record of Belize, metal objects appear in small quantities and at select sites relatively late in time (ca. AD 1200/1250-1700). Metal never ‘replaced’ stone at Maya sites, and because Belize has no known metallic ore deposits, copper-base ornaments rather than tools were either imported from elsewhere in Mesoamerica or they were produced by recycling metal objects that had been imported earlier in time. Here we provide an overview of the major themes addressed in lithic and metallurgical studies in Belize, with an emphasis on the contribution of lithic studies in Belize to understanding big picture questions about resource acquisition, tool use, and socio-economic and ideological behaviors throughout the Maya region.
