Analyses conducted to objects made out of mollusk shells found
at the Little Acropolis of Yaxchilan, in Chiapas, reveal the
possibility of specialized handcraft workshops at the interior
of Maya palaces. Apparently, members of the elite created the
crafts and not members of the lower classes or foreigners as it
was the custom. Researchers Adrian Velazquez Castro, Belem
Zuñiga Arellano and Norma Valentin Maldonado, from the National
Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) conduct the study
of a 76-elements collection of mollusk-shell objects recovered
by archaeologist Daniel Juarez at the palace area of Yaxchilan.
According to Doctor Adrian Velazquez, who works at Templo Mayor
Museum, the aim of the work is to contribute, based on the study
of shell material, to help defining activities developed at the
interior of the Maya courts. It is probable that many elements
produced at the Little Acropolis of Yaxchilan can be found in
the rest of the site, in nobility funerary contexts. If this
part of the city wa