Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T15:51:07.634Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sources of Imported Obsidian at Postclassic Sites in the Yautepec Valley, Morelos: A Characterization Study Using XRF and INAA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael E. Smith ,
Adrian L. Burke ,
Timothy S. Hare  and
Michael D. Glascock
Michael E. Smith
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Box 2402, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 ([email protected])
Adrian L. Burke
Affiliation:
Département d'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7 ([email protected])
Timothy S. Hare
Affiliation:
Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy, Morehead State University, 100 Lloyd Cassity Building, Morehead, KY 40351 ([email protected])
Michael D. Glascock
Affiliation:
230 Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents the results of obsidian characterization analyses for Middle and Late Postclassic sites in the Yautepec Valley of Morelos, central Mexico. A large sample (N = 390) of obsidian blades from excavated domestic contexts at the site of Yautepec and from surface collected contemporary sites were assigned to a quarry source using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and a subsample was also analyzed with instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The use of XRF allowed the authors to expand the number of artifacts initially analyzed by INAA. These larger samples of sourced material prove essential to answering research questions regarding regional economies, particularly with regard to issues such as production and exchange. This study demonstrates the complementarity of XRF and INAA and the specific advantages inherent in each of these techniques.

Resumen

Resumen

Presentamos un análisis de la caracterización química de las obsidianas procedentes de sitios del Posclásico Medio y Tardío en el valle de Yautepec, México central. Una muestra importante (N=390) de lascas de obsidiana recuperadas en contextos domésticos en el sitio de Yautepec y de otras colecciones de superficie de sitios contemporáneos pudieron ser asignadas a canteras usando la fluorescencia de rayos X (XRF), y en una submuestra la activación neutrónica (INAA). El uso de la técnica de XRF permitió aumentar el número de artefactos inicialmente analizado por INAA. Estas muestras más grandes que incluían materiales de procedencia de origen permitió responder a preguntas sobre la economía regional, en particular las cuestiones en torno a la producción y el intercambio. Los datos que presentamos aquí demuestran las ventajas de la complementariedad en el uso de las técnicas de análisis de XRF y INAA, aprovechando las ventajas específicas de cada una de ellas.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , December 2007 , pp. 429 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2007

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

Abbey, Sydney 1983 Studies in “Standard Samples” of Silicate Rocks and Minerals 1969–1982. Paper, vol. 83–15. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Ahmedali, Syet Tariq (editor) 1989 X-Ray Flourescence Analysis in the Geological Sciences: Advances in Methodology. Course, vol. 7. Geological Association of Canada, Montreal.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 2001 Classic Maya State, Urbanism, and Exchange: Chipped Stone Evidence of the Copán Valley and Its Hinterland. American Anthropologist 103:346–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asaro, Frank, Michel, Helen V., Sidrys, Raymond, and Stross, Fred H. 1978 High-Precision Chemical Characterization of Major Obsidian Sources in Guatemala. American Antiquity 43:436–443.Google Scholar
Asaro, Frank, Salazar, Ernesto, Michel, Helen V., Burger, Richard L., and Stross, Fred H. 1994 Ecuadorian Obsidian Sources Used for Artifact Production and Methods of Provenience Assignments. Latin American Antiquity 5:257–277.Google Scholar
Bertin, Eugene P. 1970 Principles and Practice of X-Ray Spectrometric Analysis. Plenum Press, New York.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E. 2003 Obsidian Exchange Spheres. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Michael E. Smith, and Frances F. Berdan, pp. 131–158. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E., Wyllys Andrews, E., V, , and Glascock, Michael D. 1994 The Obsidian Artifacts of Quelepa, El Salvador. Ancient Mesoamerica 5:173–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E., Clark, John E., Aoyama, Kazuo, McKillop, Heather I., and Glascock, Michael D. 2000 Determining the Geological Provenance of Obsidian Artifacts from the Maya Region: A Test of the Efficacy of Visual Sourcing. Latin American Antiquity 11:269–282.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E., and Glascock, Michael D. 2002 The Emergence of Market Economies in the Ancient Maya World: Obsidian Exchange in Terminal Classic Yucatán, Mexico. In Geochemical Evidence for Long-Distance Exchange, edited by Michael D. Glascock, pp. 33–52. Bergin and Garvey, Westport, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth M., and Earle, Timothy K. 1987 Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies: An Introduction. In Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies, edited by Elizabeth M. Brumfiel, and Timothy K. Earle, pp. 1–9. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Charlton, Thomas H., and Spence, Michael W. 1982 Obsidian Exploitation and Civilization in the Basin of Mexico. In Mining and Mining Techniques in Ancient Mesoamerica: Special Issue of the Journal Anthropology, edited by Phil C. Weigand and Gretchen Gwynne. Anthropology 6:7–86.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 Barbara Voorhies, pp. 268–284. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Cobean, Robert H. 1991 Principales yacimientos de obsidiana en el altiplano central. Arqueologia 5:9–31.Google Scholar
Cobean, Robert H. 1998 Notes on three decades of obsidian source investigations in central Mexico. In Rutas de intercambio en Mesoamérica: III Coloquio Pedro Bosch-Gimpera, edited by Evelyn C. Rattray, pp. 115–152. Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F. Google Scholar
Cobean, Robert H. 2002 Un mundo de obsidiana: minería y comercio de un vidrio volcánico en el México antiguo/A World of Obsidian: The Mining and Trade of Volcanic Glass in Ancient Mexico. Arqueología de México, vol. 4. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and University of Pittsburgh, Mexico City and Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Cobean, Robert H., Vogt, James R., Glascock, Michael D., and Stacker, Terrence L. 1991 High-Precision Trace Element Characterization of Major Mesoamerican Obsidian Sources and Further Analysis of Artifacts from San Lorenzo Tenochititlan, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 2:69–91.Google Scholar
Davis, M. Kathleen, Jackson, Thomas L., Shackley, M. Steven, Teague, Timothy, and Hampel, Joachim H. 1998 Factors Affecting the Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Analysis of Archaeological Obsidian. In Archaeological Obsidian Studies: Method and Theory, edited by M. Steven Shackley, pp. 159–180. Plenum Press and Society for Archaeological Sciences, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreiss, Meredith L., Brown, David O., Hester, Thomas R., Glascock, Michael D., Neff, Hector, and Stryker, Katharine 1993 Expanding the Role of Trace-Element Studies: Obsidian Use in the Late and Terminal Classic Periods at the Lowland Maya Site of Colha, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 4:271–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erlandson, Jon M., Moss, Madonna L., and Hughes, Richard E. 1992 Archaeological Distribution and Trace Element Geochemistry of Volcanic Glass from Obsidian Cover, Suemez Island, Southeast Alaska. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 16:89–95.Google Scholar
Flanagan, Francis J. (editor) 1976 Descriptions and Analyses of Eight New USGS Rock Standards. Geological Survey Professional Paper, vol. 840. United States Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Ford, Anabel, Stross, Fred, Asaro, Frank, and Michel, Helen V. 1997 Obsidian Procurement and Distribution in the Tikal-Yaxha Intersite Area of the Central Maya Lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:101–110.Google Scholar
Fowler, William R Jr., Demarest, Arthur, Michel, Helen V., Asaw, Frank, and Stross, Fred 1989 Sources of Obsidian From El Miridor, Guatemala: New Evidence on Preclassic Maya Interaction. American Anthropologist 91:158–168.Google Scholar
Fowler, William R. Jr., Kelley, Jane H., Asaro, Frank, Michel, Helen V., and Stross, Fred H. 1987 The Chipped Stone Industry of Cihuatan and Santa Maria, El Savador, and Soures of Obsidian for Cihuatan. American Antiquity 52:151–160.Google Scholar
Guevara, Gaxiola G., Margarita, Jorge, Morales, Azucena, and Viramontes, Carlos 1987 La manufactura en los talleres de obsidiana del Pizzarin. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 33(1):27–80.Google Scholar
Glascock, Michael D. (editor) 2002 Geochemical Evidence for Long-Distance Exchange. Bergin and Garvey, Westport.Google Scholar
Glascock, Michael D., Braswell, Geoffrey E., and Cobean, Robert H. 1998 A Systematic Approach to Obsidian Source Characterization. In Archaeological Obsidian Studies: Method and Theory, edited by M. Steven Shackley, pp. 15–65. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Glascock, Michael D., Neff, Hector, Stryker, Katherine S., and Johnson, Taryn N. 1994 Sourcing of Archaeological Obsidian by an Abbreviated NAA Procedure. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 80:29–35.Google Scholar
Hare, Timothy S. 2001 Political Economy, Spatial Analysis, and Postclassic States in the Yautepec Valley, Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, University at Albany, SUNY University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Hare, Timothy S. 2004 Using Measures of Cost Distance in the Estimation of Polity Boundaries in the Postclassic Yautepec Valley, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:799–814.Google Scholar
Hare, Timothy S., and Smith, Michael E. 1996 A New Postclassic Chronology for Yautepec, Morelos. Ancient Mesoamerica 7:281–297.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan M. 1997 Pre-Hispanic Quarrying in the Ucareo-Zinapécuaro Obsidian Source Area. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:77–100.Google Scholar
Hermes, O. Don, and Ritchie, D. 1997 Nondestructive Trace Element Analysis of Archaeological Felsite by Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Flourescence Spectroscopy. Geoarchaeology 12:31–40.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1980 Eastern Morelos and Teotihuacan: A Settlement Survey. Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology, vol. 25. Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1989 Militarism and Social Organization at Xochicalco, Morelos. In Mesoamerica After the Decline of Teotihuacan, AD 700–900, edited by Richard Diehl, and Janet Berlo, pp. 69–81. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1995 The Investigation of Obsidian Craft Production at Xochicalco, Morelos. Ancient Mesoamerica 6:251–258.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1998 The Distributional Approach: A New Way to Identify Marketplace Exchange in the Archaeological Record. Current Anthropology 39:451–476.Google Scholar
Hughes, Richard E. 1984 Obsidian Sorucing Studies in the Great Basin: Problems and Prospects. In Obsidian Studies in the Great Basin, edited by Richard E. Hughes, pp. 1–19. Contributions of the, University of California Archaeological Research Facility, vol. 45, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Jackson, Thomas L. 1986 Late Prehistoric Obsidian Exchange in Central California. Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Jackson, Thomas L., and Love, Michael W 1991 Blade Running: Middle Preclassic Obsidian Exchange and the Introduction of Prismatic Blades at La Blanca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:47–60.Google Scholar
Joyce, Arthur A., Michael Elam, J., Glascock, Michael D., Neff, Hector, and Winter, Marcus 1995 Exchange Implications of Obsidian Source Analysis from the Lower Rio Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 6:3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, Robert D., and Lanford, William A. 1987 Sourcing Hudson Valley Cherts from Trace Element Analysis. Man in the Northeast 34:57–69.Google Scholar
McKillop, Heather, Jackson, Lawrence J., Michel, Helen V., Stross, Fred H., and Asaro, Frank 1988 Chemical Source Analysis of Maya Obsidian: New Perspectives from Wild Cane Cay, Belize. In Proceedings of the 26th International Symposium of Archaeometry, edited by R. M. Farquhar, R. G. V. Hancock, and L. A. Pavlish, pp. 239–244. Archaeometry Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 2003a The Artifacts of Tikal: Utilitarian Artifacts and Unworked Material. Tikal Report, vol. 27, part B. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 2003b Source Attribution and the Utilization of Obsidian in the Maya Area. Latin American Antiquity 14:301–310.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula, and Nelson, Fred W. 1990 New Data on Sources of Obsidian Artifacts at Tilkal, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:71–80.Google Scholar
Neff, Hector, Glascock, Michael D., Charlton, Thomas H., Otis Charlton, Cynthia L., and Nichols, Deborah L. 2000 Provenience Investigation of Ceramics and Obsidian from Otumba. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:307–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichols, Deborah L., Brumfiel, Elizabeth M., Neff, Hector, Hodge, Mary, Charlton, Thomas H., and Glascock, Michael D. 2002 Neutrons, Markets, Cities, and Empires: A 1000- Year Perspective on Ceramic Production and Distribution in the Postclassic Basin of Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21:25–82.Google Scholar
Norris, Susan 2002 Political Economy of the Aztec Empire: A Regional Analysis of Obsidian Craft Production in the Provinces of Huaxtepec and Cuauhnahuac, Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Olson, Jan Marie 2001 Unequal Consumption: A Study of Domestic Wealth Differentials in Three Late Postclassic Mexican Communities. Ph.D. dissertation, University at Albany, SUNY. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Orton, Clive 2000 Sampling in Archaeology. Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Parsons, Jeffrey R., Brumfield, Ellizabeth M., Parsons, Mary H., and Wilson, David J. 1982 Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Southern Valley of Mexico: The Chalco-Xochimilco Region. Memoirs, vol. 14. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pastrana, Alejandro 1991 Los yacimientos de obsidiana del oriente de Querétaro. In Querétaro Prehispánico, edited by Ana María Crespo, and Rosa Brambila, pp. 11–30. Colección Científica, vol. 238. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México D.F.Google Scholar
Pastrana, Alejandro 1998 La explotación azteca de la obsidiana en la Sierra de las Navajas. Colección Científica, vol. 383. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México D.F.Google Scholar
Pires-Ferreira, Jane W. 1975 Formative Mesoamerican Exchange Networks with Special Reference to the Valley of Oaxaca. Memoirs, vol. 7. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Pollard, Helen Perlstein, and Vogel, Thomas A. 1994 Late Postclassic Imperial Expansion and Economic Exchange Within the Tarascan Domain. In Economies and Polities in the Aztec Realm, edited by Mary G. Hodge, and Michael E. Smith, pp. 447–470. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, Albany.Google Scholar
Potts, Philip J. 1987 A Handbook of Silicate Rock Analysis. Blackie and Son, Glasgow.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 1984 Obsidian Procurement in the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 11:181–194.Google Scholar
Sanders, William T., Parsons, Jeffrey R., and Santley, Robert S. 1979 The Basin of Mexico: Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert S., Barrett, Thomas P., Glascock, Michael D., and Neff, Hector 2001 Pre-Hispanic Obsidian Procurement in the Tuxtla Mountains, Southern Veracruz, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 12:49–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackley, M. Steven 1995 Sources of Archaeological Obsidian in the Greater American Southwest: An Update and Quantitative Analysis. American Antiquity 60:531–551.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1999 Comment on Hirth’s “Distribution Approach”. Current Anthropology 40:528–530.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2001 The Aztec Empire and the Mesoamerican World System. In Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History, edited by Susan E. Alcock, Terence N. D’Altroy, Kathleen D. Morrison, and Carla M. Sinopoli, pp. 128–154. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2003a Comercio postclásico en la cerámica decorada: Malinalco, Toluca, Guerrero y Morelos. Arqueología (INAH) 29:63–84.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2003b Economic Change in Morelos Households. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Michael E. Smith, and Frances F. Berdan, pp. 249–258. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2004 The Archaeology of Ancient State Economies. Annual Review of Anthropology 33:73–102.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2006a Excavaciones de casas postclásicas en la zona urbana de Yautepec, Morelos: informe final. 2 vols. Report submitted to the Consejo de Arqueología, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. México D.F.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2006b Reconocimiento superficial del Volle de Yautepec, Morelos: informe final. Report submitted to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. México D.F.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2008 Tlahuica Ceramics: The Aztec-Period Ceramics of Morelos, Mexico. IMS Monographs, vol. 15. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, Albany, in press.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E., and Berdan, Frances F. (editors) 2003 The Postclassic Mesoamerican World. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E., Hare, Timothy S., and Pickard, Lea 1996 Yautepec City-States in the Mesoamerican World System. Paper presented at the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E., Heath-Smith, Cynthia, and Montiel, Lisa 1999 Excavations of Aztec Urban Houses at Yautepec, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 10:133–150.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E., and Schreiber, Katharina J. 2005 New World States and Empires: Economic and Social Organization. Journal of Archaeological Research 13:189–229.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L., Heller, Lynette, Glascock, Michael D., Elam, Jack M., and Neff, Hector 1992 Obsidian-Artifact Source Analysis for the Mixtequilla Region, South-Central Veracruz, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 3:221–239.Google Scholar
Stevenson, Christopher M., Klimkiewicz, Maria, and Scheetz, Barry E. 1990 X-Ray Flourescence Analysis of Jaspers from the Woodward Site (36CH374), the Kasowski Site (36CH161) and Selected Eastern United States Jasper Quarries. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 6:43–54.Google Scholar
Stross, Fred H., Sheets, Payson, Asaro, Frank, and Michel, Helen V. 1983 Precise Characterization of Guatemala Obsidian Sources, and Source Determination of Artifacts From Quirigua. American Antiquity 48:323–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tenorio, Delores, Cabral, Agustin, Bosch, Pedro, Jiménez-Reyes, Melania, and Bulbulian, Silvia 1998 Differences in Coloured Obsidians from Sierra de Pachuca, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:229–234.Google Scholar
Williams-Thorpe, Olwen, Potts, Philip J., and Webb, Peter C. 1999 Field-Portable Non-Destructive Analysis of Lithic Archaeological Samples by X-Ray Flourescence Instrumentation using a Mercury Iodide Detector: Comparison with Wavelength-Dispersive XRF and a Case Study in British Stone Axe Provenancing. Journal of Archaeological Science 26:215–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar