Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-ksm4s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T23:01:58.139Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Obsidian Production and the State in Teotihuacan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael W. Spence
Michael W. Spence*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Obsidian production was a major component of Classic period Teotihuacan's economy, with hundreds of workshops producing cores and blades of green obsidian and bifaces of grey obsidian for distribution throughout central Mexico. Although green obsidian was evidently obtained through a state network, grey obsidian procurement was conducted independently by most workshop groups. Most production took place in residential areas beyond the major public structures of the city, but some of these craftsmen also worked periodically within the public precincts where their output would have been at the disposition of state officials. The burden of this levy fell primarily upon those sectors of the industry that were most dependent on the state for support and most involved in external distribution. However, despite this evidence of an important administered element in the Teotihuacan obsidian industry, the workshops apparently maintained their independence from the state. This may have been due to their organization in strong social units that had a long history of independent existence, and to their self-reliance in procurement and distribution during the earlier stages of the industry"s development.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , October 1981 , pp. 769 - 788
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1981

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

Adams, Robert M. 1974 Anthropological perspectives on ancient trade. Current Anthropology 15:239-258.Google Scholar
Adams, Robert M. 1975 The emerging place of trade in civilizational studies. In Ancient civilization and trade, edited by Sabloff, J. and Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., pp. 451-465. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Agrinier, Pierre 1970 Mound 20, Mirador, Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation 28.Google Scholar
Appel, Jill 1979 Lithic production in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Paper presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Bernal, Ignacio 1968 Teotihuacán: capital de imperio? Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 20:95-110.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard E. 1978 Monte Albán: settlement patterns at the ancient Zapotec capital. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard E. 1979 Origins and evolution of market systems. Paper presented at the Prehistoric Craft Production Symposium and Workshop, Tempe.Google Scholar
Charlton, Thomas 1978a Teotihuacan, Tepeapulco and obsidian exploitation. Science 200:1227-1236.Google Scholar
Charlton, Thomas 1978b Production and exchange: variables in the evolution of a civilization. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 1974 Quantitative studies of urbanization at Teotihuacan. In Mesoamerican archaeology: new approaches, edited by Hammond, N., pp. 363-396. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Ester, Michael 1976 The spatial allocation of activities at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Brandeis University. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1972 The cultural evolution of civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3:399-426.Google Scholar
Hester, Thomas R., Robert N., Jack, and Alice, Benfer 1973 Trace element analyses of obsidian from Michoacan, Mexico: preliminary results. In Studies in ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Graham, J.. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility 18:167-176.Google Scholar
Hester, Thomas R., Robert N., Jack, and Robert F., Heizer 1972 Trace element analysis of obsidian from the site of Cholula, Mexico. In Studies in the archaeology of Mexico and Guatemala, edited by Graham, J.. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility 16:105-110.Google Scholar
Johnson, Gregory A. 1975 Locational analysis and the investigation of Uruk local exchange systems. In Ancient civilization and trade, edited by Sabloff, J. and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, pp. 285-339. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Kidder, Alfred V., Jesse, D. Jennings, and Edwin, M. Shook 1946 Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 561.Google Scholar
Millon, Clara 1973 Painting, writing and polity in Teotihuacan, Mexico. American Antiquity 38:294-314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millon, Rene 1973 The Teotihuacan map, part 1, text. In Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico, vol. 1: the Teotihuacan map, edited by Millon, R.. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Millon, Rene, Bruce, Drewitt, and George L., Cowgill 1973 The Teotihuacan map, part 2, maps. In Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico, voi. 1: the Teotihuacan map, edited by Millon, R.. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1975 Obsidian at Tikal, Guatemala. Actas del XLl Congreso Internacionai de Americanistas 1:511-518.Google Scholar
Parsons, Jeffrey R. 1976 Settlement and population history of the Basin of Mexico. In The Valley of Mexico, edited by Wolf, E., pp. 69-100. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Pendergast, David 1971 Evidence of early Teotihuacan-Lowland Maya contact at Altun Ha. American Antiquity 36:455-460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pires-Ferreira, Jane 1975 Formative Mesoamerican exchange networks with special reference to the Valley of Oaxaca. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology Memoir 7.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Karl 1975 Traders and trade. In Ancient civilization and trade, edited by Sabloff, J. and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, pp. 133-154. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Polanyi, Karl, Conrad, Arensberg, and Harry, Pearson (editors) 1957 Trade and market in the early empires. Free Press of Glencoe, New York.Google Scholar
Rappaport, Roy A. 1978 Maladaptation in social systems. In The evolution of social systems, edited by Friedman, J. and M. J. Rowlands, pp. 49-71. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn 1966 An archaeological and stylistic study of Coyotlatelco pottery. Mesoamerican Notes 7-8:87-193.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn 1979 Craft production in Teotihuacan in the Coyotlatelco phase. Paper presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Sanders, William T., Jeffrey R., Parsons, and Robert S., Santley 1979 The Basin of Mexico: ecological processes in the evolution of a civilization. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S. 1978 Obsidian exchange, economic stratification, and the evolution of complex society in the Basin of Mexico. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S. 1979 Teotihuacan and Toltec period settlement patterns in the Basin of Mexico. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico.Google Scholar
Sidrys, Raymond 1977 Trace-element analysis of obsidian artifacts from Portezuelo, Mexico. Journal of New World Archaeology 2:47-51.Google Scholar
Smith, Carol A. 1976a Regional economic systems: linking geographical modes and socioeconomic problems. In Regional analysis, volume I: economic systems, edited by Smith, C. A., pp. 3-63. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Smith, Carol A. 1976b Exchange systems and the spatial distribution of elites: the organization of stratification in agrarian societies. In Regional analysis, volume II: social systems, edited by Smith, C. A., pp. 309-374. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1967 The obsidian industry of Teotihuacan. American Antiquity 32:507-514.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1974a Residential practices and the distribution of skeletal traits in Teotihuacan, Mexico. Man 9:262-273.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1974b The development of the Teotihuacan obsidian production system. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1977 Teotihuacán y el intercambio de obsidiana en Mesoamérica. Los procesos de cambio en mesoamérica y áreas circunvecinas, XV Mesa Redonda II: 293-300. Sociedad Mexicans de Antropología, México, D. F. Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1978 Comments on the Teotihuacan obsidian hydration measurements. In Obsidian dates II: a compendium of the obsidian hydration determinations made at the UCLA Obsidian Hydration Laboratory, edited by Meighan, C. and P. I. Vanderhoeven, pp. 161-164. University of California, Los Angeles, Institute of Archaeology Monograph VI. Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1979 Craft production and polity in early Teotihuacan. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. Jerome, Kimberlin, and Garmon, Harbottle 1979 Obsidian procurement in Teotihuacan, Mexico. Paper presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W., and Jeffrey R., Parsons 1972 Prehispanic obsidian exploitation in Central Mexico: a preliminary synthesis. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology Anthropological Papers 45:1-43.Google Scholar
Wright, Henry T., and Gregory A., Johnson 1975 Population, exchange and early state formation in southwestern Iran. American Anthropologist 77: 267-289.Google Scholar