Recent archaeological work at Calha and at other localities in the geographically restricted chert bearing zone of northern Belize has revealed large scale exploitation of chert for stone tool production. Workshops dated during the late preclassic period signal the beginning of craft specialization in chert working that continued in the Late Classic and into the Early postclassic period. Secular items such as large aval bifaces, tranchet bit tools and prismatic blades, as well as nonsecular eccentrics and stemmed macroblade artifacts are distinctive of the Late Preclassic and Late Classic workshops.