Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:46:50.821Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from a Classic Maya Residential Group at Nohmul, Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Norman Hammond ,
Mary D. Neivens  and
Garman Harbottle
Norman Hammond
Affiliation:
Archaeology Program, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903
Mary D. Neivens
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, L.I., NY 11973
Garman Harbottle
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, L.I., NY 11973
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Forty-nine obsidian artifacts from a Classic period residential group at Nohmul, northern Belize, have been analyzed by neutron activation analysis. The majority of the samples originated from Ixtepeque, and the remainder from El Chayal. Increasing prominence of the Ixtepeque source from the Late Classic into the Terminal Classic (i.e., before and after ca. A.D. 800) suggests greater use of a coastal distribution route known to have originated in the Formative and to have remained in use through the colonial period.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , October 1984 , pp. 815 - 820
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Asaro, F., Michel, H. V., Sidrys, R., and Stross, F. 1978 High-precision Chemical Characterization of Major Obsidian Sources in Guatemala. American Antiquity 43: 436–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ball, J. W. 1974 A Coordinate Approach to Northern Maya Prehistory: A. D. 700-1200. American Antiquity 39: 85–93.Google Scholar
Ball, J. W. 1982 A Note on the Ceramic History of Moho Cay, Belize, Central America. Ceramica de Cultura Maya et al 12: 49–55.Google Scholar
Bishop, R. L., Harbottle, G., and Sayre, E. V. 1982 Chemical and Mathematical Procedures Employed in the Maya Fine Paste Ceramics Project. In Excavations at Seibal, edited by Willey, G. R., pp. 272–282. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Memoir 15 No. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Bruhns, K. O., and Hammond, N. 1982 A Maya Metal-worker's Tool from Belize. Antiquity 56: 175–180.Google Scholar
Chase, D. Z., and Chase, A. F. 1982 Yucatec Influence in Terminal Classic Northern Belize. American Antiquity 47: 596–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chase, D. Z., and Hammond, N. 1982 Excavation of Nohmul Structure 20. Mexicon 4(1): 7–12.Google Scholar
Gunnink, R., Levy, H. B., and Niday, J. B. 1967 Identification and Determination of Gamma Emitters by Computer Analysis of Ge (Li) Spectra. Paper presented at the American Chemical Society Symposium on Nuclear Methods of Chemical Analysis, April 10-14. Univ. CA Rad. Lab. Report UCID 15140 (unpublished).Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1972 Obsidian Trade Routes in the Mayan Area. Science 178: 1092–1093.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1974 Preclassic to Postclassic in Northern Belize. Antiquity 48: 177–189.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1975 Lubaantun: A Classic Maya Realm. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Monograph No. 2, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1976 Maya Obsidian Trade in Southern Belize. In Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, T. R. and Hammond, N., pp. 71–81. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1977 Ex Oriente Lux. A View from Belize. In The Origins of Maya Civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 45–76. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1978 (editor) Cuello Project 1978 Interim Report. Archaeological Research Program, Rutgers University, Publication 1, New Brunswick, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1982 Ancient Maya Civilization. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1983 Nohmul, Belize: 1982 Investigations. Journal of Field Archaeology 10: 245–254.Google Scholar
Hammond, N., and Bruhns, K. O. 1983 The Moho Cay Hammer: A Revised Opinion. Antiquity 57: 136–137.Google Scholar
Hammond, N., Clark, C., Horton, M., Hodges, M., McNatt, L., Kosakowsky, L. J., and Pyburn, A. 1985 Excavation and Survey at Nohmul, Belize, 1983. Journal of Field Archaeology 12, in press.Google Scholar
Healy, P., and McKillop, H. 1979 Moho Cay, Belize: A Preliminary Report of the 1979 Archaeological Season. Belizean Studies 8(6): 10–16.Google Scholar
Heighway, C. 1973 Excavations of a Postclassic House: Structure 139, Nohmul. In British Museum-Cambridge University Corozal Project 1973 Interim Report, edited by Norman, Hammond, pp. 47–55. Centre of Latin American Studies, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Heighway, C., Barry, I., Graham, E., Pring, D., and Hammond, N. 1975 Excavations in the Platform 137 Group, Nohmul. In Archaeology in Northern Belize: British Museum-Cambridge University Corozal Project 1974-1975 Interim Report, edited by Norman, Hammond, pp. 15–72. Centre of Latin American Studies, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Nelson, F. W., Sidrys, R. V., and Holmes, R. D. 1978 Trace Element Analysis by X-Ray Fluorescence of Obsidian Artifacts from Guatemala and Belize. In Excavations at Seibal, Department ofPeten, Guatemala: Artifacts, edited by Willey, G. R., pp. 153–161. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Memoir 14 No. 1. Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Nelson, F. W., and Voorhies, B. 1980 Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from Three Shell Midden Sites in the Littoral Zone, Chiapas, Mexico. American Antiquity 45: 540–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nie, N. G., Hull, G. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K., and Bent, D. H. 1975 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York. Google Scholar
Nie, N. G., Hull, G. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K., and Bent, D. H. n. d. AGCLUS, An Aggregative, Hierarchical Clustering Program. Ms. on file, Department of Psychology and Social Relations, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Pendergast, D. M. 1979 Excavations at Altun Ha, Belize, 1964-1970, Volume 1. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada.Google Scholar
Pyburn, A. 1983 Settlement Pattern Excavations at Nohmul, Belize, 1983. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Sabloff, J. A., and Rathje, W. L. 1975 The Rise of a Maya Merchant Class. Scientific American 233(4): 72–82.Google Scholar
Sayre, E. V. 1977 Brookhaven Procedures for Statistical Analysis of Multivariate Archaeological Data. Brookhaven National Laboratory Report BNL 21693. On file at Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York.Google Scholar
Stross, F. H., Bowman, H. R., Michel, H. V., Asaro, F., and Hammond, N. 1978 Maya Obsidian: Source Correlations for Southern Belize Artifacts. Archaeometry 20: 89–93.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar