Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:32:13.250Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Blade Running: Middle Preclassic Obsidian Exchange and the Introduction of Prismatic Blades at La Blanca, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Thomas L. Jackson  and
Michael W. Love
Thomas L. Jackson
Affiliation:
BioSystems Analysis, Inc., 303 Potrero Street, Suite 29-203, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
Michael W. Love
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Obsidian prismatic blades first appeared in the Pacific coast of Guatemala at the beginning of the Middle Preclassic, ca. 900 b.c., at the site of La Blanca. Blades were imported in finished form and supplemented an existing technology based on hard-hammer percussion. This indicates that by the Middle Preclassic obsidian was being traded in at least two forms: raw material and finished products. The beginnings of blade use coincide with a number of important social and political changes on the Pacific coast. Most important of these are the emergence of La Blanca as a regional center and the formation of a settlement hierarchy that includes over 50 sites. X-ray fluorescence reveals that the material used to make the blades comes from three geological sources: El Chayal, Ixtepeque, and San Martín Jilotepque. An analysis of the source frequencies through time reveals that El Chayal obsidian dominates the assemblage throughout the Conchas phase, with Ixtepeque being a minor source in all subphases. San Martín Jilotepeque obsidian is absent in the Conchas A and B subphases, but is present in Conchas C and D. This latter occurrence may signal a shift in trade relationships, but the overall pattern suggests that exchange connections established in the Early Preclassic were continued during the Middle Preclassic.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , Spring 1991 , pp. 47 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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

Andrews, Anthony P., Frank Asaro, Helen V. Michel, Stross, Fred H., and Rivero, Pura Cervera 1989 The Obsidian Trade at Isla Cerritos, Yucatan, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 16:355–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asaro, Frank, Raymond Sidrys, Helen V. Michel, and Stross, Fred 1978 High-Precision Chemical Characterization of Major Obsidian Sources in Guatemala. American Antiquity 43:436–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berdan, Frances F. 1986 Enterprise and Empire in Colonial Mexico. In Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, B.L., pp. 281–302. Research in Economic Anthropology, Supplement 2. JAI Press, Greenwich.Google Scholar
Boksenbaum, Martin W. 1980 Basic Mesoamerican Stone-Working: Nodule Smashing? Lithic Technology 9:12–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Kenneth L. 1977 The Valley of Guatemala: A Highland Port of Trade. In Teoti-huacan and Kaminaljuyu: A Study in Prehistoric Culture Contact, edited by Sanders, W.T. and Michels, J.W., pp. 205–395. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1981 Guatemalan Obsidian Sources and Quarries: Additional Notes. Journal of New World Archaeology IV(3):1–15.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1987a Politics, Prismatic Blades, and Mesoamerican Civilization. In The Organization of Core Technology, edited by Johnson, J.K. and Morrow, C.A., pp. 259–284. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1987b The Formation of Rank Societies in Chiapas, Mexico. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., Michael, Blake, Pedro, Guzzy, Marta, Cuevas, and Salcedo, Tamara 1987 Final Report to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia of the Early Preclassic Coastal Project. Manuscript in possession of the author.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Lee, Thomas A. Jr. 1984 Formative Obsidian Exchange and the Emergence of Public Economies in Chiapas, Mexico. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, K.G., pp. 235–274. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., Lee, Thomas A. Jr, and Salcedo, Tamara 1989 The Distribution of Obsidian. In Ancient Trade and Tribute: Economies of the Soconusco Region of Mesoamerica, edited by Voorhies, Barbara, pp. 268–284. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Cobean, Robert H., Coe, Michael D., Perry, Edward A., Turekian, Karl D., and Kharkar, Dinkar P. 1971 Obsidian Trade at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, Mexico. Science 174:666–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1961 La Victoria: An Early Site on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 53. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D., and Flannery, Kent V. 1967 Early Cultures and Human Ecology in South Coastal Guatemala. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, vol. 3. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Crabtree, Don E. 1968 Mesoamerican Polyhedral Cores and Prismatic Blades. American Antiquity 33:446–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1968 The Olmec and the Valley of Oaxaca: A Model for Inter-Regional Interaction in Formative Times. In Dumbarton Oaks Conference on the Olmec, edited by Benson, E.P., pp. 79–117. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Fowler, William R. Jr, Kelly, Jane H., Asaro, Frank, Michel, Helen V., and Stross, Fred 1987 The Chipped Stone Industry of Cihuatan and Santa María, El Salvador, and Sources of Obsidian from Cihuatan. American Antiquity 52:151–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grove, David C. 1984 Chalcatzingo: Excavations on the Olmec Frontier. Thames and Hudson, New York.Google Scholar
Guderjan, Thomas H., Garber, James F., Smith, Herman A., Stross, Fred, Michel, Helen V., and Asaro, Frank 1989 Maya Maritime Trade and Sources of Obsidian at San Juan, Ambergris Cay, Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 16: 363–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassig, Ross 1985 Trade, Tribute, and Transportation: Sixteenth-Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1978 Interregional Exchange and the Formation of Prehistoric Gateway Communities. American Antiquity 43:35–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, Richard E. 1986 Diachronic Variability in Obsidian Procurement Patterns in Northeastern California and Southcentral Oregon. University of California Publications in Anthropology 17. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Jackson, Thomas L. 1986 Late Prehistoric Obsidian Exchange in Central California. Un published Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Love, Michael W. 1987 Olmec Style and Social Inequality in Pacific Guatemala. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Love, Michael W. 1988 The Ceramic Chronology of La Blanca. Paper presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Phoenix, AZ.Google Scholar
Love, Michael W. 1989 Early Settlements and Chronology of the Río Naranjo, Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Berkeley.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula, Asaro, Frank, and Stross, Fred 1984 Tikal Obsidian: Sources and Typology. American Antiquity 49:104–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, Fred W., and Voorhies, Barbara 1980 Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from Three Shell Middens in the Littoral Zone, Chiapas, Mexico. American Antiquity 45:540–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, Lee A., and Price, Barbara J. 1971 Mesoamerican Obsidian Trade and Its Role in the Emergence of Civilization. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility 11:169–195.Google Scholar
Pires-Ferreira, Jane W. 1976 Obsidian Exchange in Formative Mesoamerica. In The Early Mesoamerican Village, edited by Flannery, K.V., pp. 292–306. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence, Michel, Helen V., Asaro, Frank, and Stross, Fred 1985 Provenience Analysis of Obsidian from the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala. American Antiquity 50:591–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, William T. 1977 Ethnographic Analogy and the Teotihuacan Horizon Style. In Teotihuacan and Kaminaljuyu: A Study in Prehistoric Culture Contact, edited by Sanders, W.T. and Michels, J.W., pp. 397–410. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S. 1985 The Political Economy of the Aztec Empire. Journal of Anthropological Research 41:327–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheets, P.D., and Muto, G. 1972 Pressure Blades and Total Cutting Edge: An Experiment in Lithic Technology. Science 175:632–634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sidrys, Raymond, Andresen, John, and Marcucci, Derek 1976 Obsidian Sources in the Maya Area. Journal of New World Archaeology 1(5):1–13.Google Scholar
Stross, F.H., Bowman, F.R., Michel, H.V., Asaro, F., and Hammond, N. 1978 Maya Obsidian: Source Correlations for Southern Belize Artifacts. Archaeometry 20:89–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stross, F.H., Hester, T.R., Heizer, R.F., and Jack, R.N. 1976 Chemical and Archaeological Studies of Mesoamerican Obsidian. In Advances in Obsidian Glass Studies: Archaeological and Geochemical Perspectives, edited by Taylor, R.E., pp. 240–258. Noyes Press, Park Ridge, NJ.Google Scholar
Stross, Fred, Sheets, Payson D., Asaro, Frank, and Michel, Helen V. 1983 Precise Chemical Characterization of Guatemalan Obsidian Sources and Source Determination of Artifacts from Guatemala. American Antiquity 48:323–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar