never intended to be used as tools.[203] Eccentric flints are among the finest lithic artefacts produced by the ancient Maya.[204] They were technically very challenging to produce,[205] requiring considerable skill on the part of the artisan. Large obsidian eccentrics can measure over 30 centimetres (12 in) in length.[206] Their actual form varies considerably but they generally depict human, animal and geometric forms associated with Maya religion.[205] Eccentric flints show a great variety of forms, such as crescents, crosses, snakes, and scorpions.[207] The largest and most elaborate examples display multiple human heads, with minor heads sometimes branching off from larger one.[208]
Maya textiles are very poorly represented in the archaeological record, although by comparison with other pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Aztecs and the Andean region, it is likely that they were high-value items.[209] A few scraps of textile have been recovered by archaeologists, but the best evidence for textile art is where they are represented in other media, such as painted murals or ceramics. Such secondary representations show the elite of the Maya court adorned with sumptuous cloths, generally these would have been cotton, but