Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T01:26:23.559Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EXCAVATION OF AN OBSIDIAN CRAFT WORKSHOP AT TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2019

Kenneth G. Hirth ,
David M. Carballo ,
Mark Dennison ,
Sean Carr ,
Sarah Imfeld  and
Eric Dyrdahl
Kenneth G. Hirth*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
David M. Carballo
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, STO 247D, Boston, Massachusetts 02215
Mark Dennison
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 101 Dinwiddie Hall, 6823 St Charles Ave, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118
Sean Carr
Affiliation:
615 Cricket Avenue, Glenside, Pennsylvania 19038
Sarah Imfeld
Affiliation:
2516 Eaglerock Drive, Corona, California 92881
Eric Dyrdahl
Affiliation:
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Escuela de Antropología, Av. 12 de Octubre E10-76 y Roca, Quito, Ecuador
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The original research by the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) identified a large number of obsidian workshops within Teotihuacan based on surface concentrations of production debris. Clark (1986b) questioned the validity of these identifications and called for subsurface excavation to confirm the presence of in situ workshop locales. This article summarizes the results from the excavation of one of the obsidian workshops identified in the Tlajinga district of Teotihuacan at Compound 17:S3E1 (Compound 17). We describe the excavations, discuss the lithic technology, and examine the subsurface contexts in terms of what they tell us about in situ obsidian craft activity. Excavations confirm that Compound 17 was a locus of large-scale obsidian craft production during the Classic period. While only a single test case, these results suggest that surface remains at Teotihuacan can be a useful guide in identifying craft production areas when they are confirmed through subsurface testing.

Type
Special Section: Urban Life on Teotihuacan's Periphery–New Research at the Tlajinga District
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , Spring 2019 , pp. 163 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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

Anderson, J. Heath, and Hirth, Kenneth 2009 Obsidian Blade Production for Craft Consumption at Kaminaljuyu. Ancient Mesoamerica 20:163–172.Google Scholar
Andrews, Bradford 2003 Measuring Prehistoric Craftsman Skill. Contemplating its Application to Mesoamerican Core-Blade Research. In Mesoamerican Lithic Technology. Experimentation and Interpretation, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 208–219. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Andrews, Bradford, and Hirth, Kenneth 2006 Patterns of Stone Tool Consumption in Xochicalco's Civic-Ceremonial Core. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 241–257. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Bamford, Douglas 1991 Technological Organization and Hunter-Gatherer Land Use: A California Example. American Antiquity 56:216–232.Google Scholar
Bove, Frederick, and Busto, Sonia Medrano 2004 Teotihuacan, Militarism and Pacific Guatemala. In The Maya and Teotihuacan: Reinterpreting Early Classic Interaction, edited by Braswell, Geoffrey, pp. 45–79. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Carballo, David 2007 Implements of State Power: Weaponry and Martially Themed Obsidian Production Near the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 18:173–190.Google Scholar
Carballo, David 2011 Obsidian and the Teotihuacan State. Memoirs in Latin American Archaeology, No. 21. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Carballo, David M., Hirth, Kenneth G., Sariñana, Daniela Hernández, Buckley, Gina M., Ramón, Andrés G. Mejía, and Kennett, Douglas J. 2019 New Research at Teotihuacan's Tlajinga District, 2012–2015. Ancient Mesoamerica 30:95–113.Google Scholar
Clark, John 1979 A Specialized Obsidian Quarry at Otumba, Mexico: Implications for the Study of Mesoamerican Obsidian Technology and Trade. Lithic Technology 8:46–49.Google Scholar
Clark, John 1986a Another Look at Small Debitage and Microdebitage. Lithic Technology 15:21–33.Google Scholar
Clark, John 1986b From Mountains to Molehills: A Critical Review of Teotihuacan's Obsidian Industry. In Research in Economic Anthropology, Supplement No. 2. Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, Barry, pp. 23–74. JAI Press, Greenwich.Google Scholar
Clark, John 1989 Hacia una definición de talleres. In La Obsidiana en Mesoamérica, edited by Gaxiola, Margarita and Clark, John, pp. 213–217. Instituto Nacional de Anthropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Clark, John 1997 Prismatic Blade Making, Craftsmanship, and Production: An Analysis of Obsidian Refuse from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:137–159.Google Scholar
Clark, John 2003 Craftsmanship and Craft Specialization. In Mesoamerican Lithic Technology: Experimentation and Interpretation, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 220–233. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Clark, John, and Bryant, Douglas 1997 A Technological Typology of Prismatic Blades and Debitage from Ojo de Agua, Chiapas, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:111–136.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George 2015 Ancient Teotihuacan. Early Urbanism in Central Mexico. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cyphers, Ann, and Hirth, Kenneth 2016 Transporte y Producción Artesanal en los Albores del Mundo Olmeca. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
De León, Jason 2008 The Lithic Industries of San Lorenzo-Tenochtitlán: An Economic and Technological Study of Olmec Obsidian. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Feinman, Gary 1999 Rethinking Our Assumptions: Economic Specialization at the Household Scale in Ancient Ejutla, Oaxaca, Mexico. In Pottery and People, edited by Skibo, James and Feinman, Gary, pp. 81–98. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hay, Conran 1978 Kaminaljuyu Obsidian: Lithic Analysis and the Economic Organization of a Prehistoric Maya Chiefdom. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan 1992 A Comment on Moholy-Nagy's “The Misidentification of Lithic Workshops.” Latin American Antiquity 3:240–242.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan 1995 Identifying Lithic Reduction Loci with Size-Graded Macrodebitage: A Multivariate Approach. American Antiquity 60:689–699.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan 2002 Producer Versus Consumer: Prismatic Core/Blade Technology at Epiclassic/Early Postclassic Tula and Ucareo. In Pathways to Prismatic Blades: A Study in Mesoamerican Obsidian Core-Blade Technology, edited by Hirth, Kenneth and Andrews, Bradford, pp. 29–37. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Monograph 45. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan 2003 From Quarry Pit to the Trash Pit: Comparative Core-Blade Technology at Tula, Hidalgo and the Ucareo Obsidian Source Region. In Mesoamerican Lithic Technology: Experimentation and Interpretation, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 153–169. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan, Kerley, Janet, and Bey, George 1983 Excavations and Preliminary Analysis of an Obsidian Workshop in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 10:127–147.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 1995 The Investigation of Obsidian Craft Production at Xochicalco, Morelos. Ancient Mesoamerica 6:251–258.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2003 The Kaminaljuyu Production Sequence for Obsidian Prismatic Blades: Technological Characteristics and Research Questions. In Mesoamerican Lithic Technology: Experimentation and Interpretation, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 170–181. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2006 Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2009a Craft Production, Household Diversification, and Domestic Economy in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. In Housework: Craft Production and Domestic Economy in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 13–32. Archaeological Publications of the American Anthropological Society, No. 19. American Anthropological Society, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2009b Housework: Craft Production and Domestic Economy in Ancient Mesoamerica. Archaeological Publications of the American Anthropological Society, No. 19. American Anthropological Society, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2009c Intermittent Crafting and Multicrafting at Xochicalco. In Housework: Craft Production and Domestic Economy in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 75–91. Archaeological Publications of the American Anthropological Society No. 19. American Anthropological Society, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2018 El primer taller de navajas prismáticas en Mesoamerica. Arqueología Mexicana 150:42–48.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, and Castanzo, Ronald 2006a An Experimental Study of Use-wear Striation on Obsidian Prismatic Blades. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, K., pp. 318–327. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, and Castanzo, Ronald 2006b Production for Use or Exchange: Obsidian Consumption at the Workshop, Household, and Regional Levels. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp, 218–240. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, Cyphers, Ann, Cobean, Robert, De Leon, Jason, and Glascock, Michael 2013 Early Olmec Obsidian Trade and Economic Organization at San Lorenzo. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:2784–2798.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, and Andrews, Bradford 2006a Craft Specialization and Craftsmen Skill. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 258–274. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, and Andrews, Bradford 2006b Estimating Production Output in Domestic Craft Workshops. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 202–217. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Kroeber, Theodora 2004 Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Millon, René 1973 The Teotihuacan Map, Part One, Text. In Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico, Vol. 1. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Millon, René 1981 Teotihuacan: City, State, and Civilization. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by Sabloff, Jeremy, pp. 198–243. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Millon, René, Drewitt, Bruce, and Cowgill, George 1973 The Teotihuacan Map, Part Two. In Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico, Vol. 1. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1990 The Misidentification of Mesoamerican Lithic Workshops. Latin American Antiquity 1:268–279.Google Scholar
Paredes Cetino, Rodrigo Néstor 2000 Vestigios Culturales en “El Corzo” de la Zona Arqueológica de Teotihuacan. Antropológicas 17:79–86.Google Scholar
Parry, William 2002 Aztec Blade Production Strategies in the Eastern Basin of Mexico. In Pathways to Prismatic Blades: A Study in Mesoamerican Obsidian Core-Blade Technology, edited by Hirth, Kenneth and Andrews, Bradford, pp. 36–45. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Monograph 45. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Parsons, Lee 1978 The Peripheral Coastal Lowlands and the Middle Classic Period. In Middle Classic Mesoamerica: a.d. 400–700, edited by Pasztory, Esther, pp. 25–34. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Pastrana Cruz, Alejandro, and Domínguez, Silvia 2009 Cambios en la Estratégia de la Explotación de la Obsidiana de Pachuca: Teotihuacan, Tula y la Triple Aliancia. Ancient Mesoamerica 20:129–148.Google Scholar
Cruz, Pastrana, Alejandro, Silvia Domínguez, and Sterpone, Osvaldo 2011 Producción y uso de navajas prismáticas de obsidiana en la Sierra de Las Navajas: Fase ylamimilolpa. In Producción artesanal y especializada en Mesoamérica. Áreas de actividad y procesos productivos, edited by Manzanilla, Linda y Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 153–176. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Paz Bautista, Clara 1996 El Grupo 5, un conjunto de tres templos Miccaotli-Tlamimilolpa temprano en Teotihuacan. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 42:109–120.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1981 Florentine Codex: Book 2: The Ceremonies. Translated and edited by Anderson, Arthur and Dibble, Charles. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Sanders, William 1978 Ethnographic Analogy and the Teotihuacan Horizon Style. In Middle Classic Mesoamerica: a.d. 400–700, edited by Pasztory, Esther, pp. 35–44. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sanders, William, and Santley, Robert 1983 A Tale of Three Cities: Energetics and Urbanization in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. In Prehistoric Settlement Patterns, edited by Vogt, Evon and Leventhal, Richard, pp. 243–291. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert 1980 Pricing Policies, Obsidian Exchange and the Decline of Teotihuacan Civilization. Mexicon 2:77–81.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert 1983 Obsidian Trade and Teotihuacan Influence in Mesoamerica. In Highland-Lowland Interaction in Mesoamerica, edited by Miller, Arthur, pp. 69–124. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert 1984 Obsidian Exchange, Economic Stratification, and the Evolution of Complex Society in the Basin of Mexico. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 43–86. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert 1994 The Economy of Ancient Matacapan. Ancient Mesoamerica 5:243–266.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert, Kerley, Janet, and Kneebone, Ronald 1986 Obsidian Working, Long-Distance Exchange, and the Politico-Economic Organization of Early States in Central Mexico. In Research in Economic Anthropology, Supplement 2. Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, Barry, pp. 101–132. JAI Press, Greenwich.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert, and Alexander, Rani 1996 Teotihuacan and Middle Classic Mesoamerica: A Precolumbian World System? In Arqueología Mesoamericana: Homenaje a William T. Sanders, edited by Mastache, A. Guadalupe, Parsons, Jeffrey, Santley, Robert, and Puche, M. Serra, pp. 173–194. Insituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert, and Kneebone, Ronald 1993 Craft Specialization, Refuse Disposal, and the Creation of Spatial Archaeological Records in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. In Prehispanic Domestic Units in Western Mesoamerica: Studies of the Household, Compound, and Residence, edited by Santley, Robert and Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 37–63. CRC Press, Boca Raton.Google Scholar
Sheehy, James 1992 Ceramic Production in Ancient Teotihuacan, Mexico: A Case Study of Tlajinga 33. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson 1975 Behavioral Analysis and the Structure of a Prehistoric Industry. Current Anthropology 16:369–391.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael 1966 Los talleres de obsidiana de Teotihuacan. In Teotihuacan, onceava mesa redonda, pp. 213–218. Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael 1967 The Obsidian Industry of Teotihuacan. American Antiquity 32:507–514.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael 1981 Obsidian Production and the State in Teotihuacan. American Antiquity 46:769–788.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael 1984 Craft Production and Polity in Early Teotihuacan. In Trade and Exchange in Early Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 87–114. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael 1986 Locational Analysis of Craft Specialization Areas in Teotihuacan. In Research in Economic Anthropology, Supplement 2. Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, Barry, pp. 75–100. JAI Press, Greenwich.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael 1987 The Scale and Structure of Obsidian Production in Teotihuacan. In Teotihuacan. Nuevos Datos, Nuevas Sintesis, Nuevos Problemas, edited by de Tapia, Emily McClung and Rattray, Evelyn, pp. 429–450. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael, and Parsons, Jeffrey 1972 Prehispanic Obsidian Exploitation in Central Mexico: A Preliminary Synthesis. In Miscellaneous Studies in Mexican Prehistory, edited by Spence, Michael, Parsons, Jeffrrey and Parsons, Mary Hrones, pp. 1–43. Anthropological Papers, No. 45. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael, Kimberlin, Jerome, and Harbottle, Garman 1984 State-Controlled Procurement and the Workshops of Teotihuacán, Mexico. In Prehistoric Quarries and Lithic Production, edited by Ericson, Jonathon and Purdy, Barbara, pp. 97–105. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Stahlschmidt, Mareike, and Carballo, David 2015 Análisis micromorfológicos. Tercera temporada, 2014–15. In Informe técnico al Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, edited by Carballo, David and Pingarrón, Luis Barba, pp. 167–179. Boston University, Boston, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Stahlschmidt, Mareike, McClung de Tapia, Emily, and Gutiérrez-Castorena, María del Carmen 2019 A Geoarchaeological Investigation of the Street of the Dead at the Tlajinga District, Teotihuacan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 30:129–145.Google Scholar
Storey, Glenn 1985 The Obsidian Assemblage of Tlajinga 33, Teotihuacan, Mexico. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Tolstoy, Paul 1971 The Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico. Handbook of Middle American Indians 10:270–296.Google Scholar
Walton, David 2017 The Production, Consumption, and Function of Stone Tools in Prehispanic Central Mexico: A Comparative Study of Households Spanning the Formative to Postclassic Period. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston.Google Scholar
Widmer, Randolph 1991 Lapidary Craft Specialization at Teotihuacan: Implications for Community Structure at 33:S3W1 and Economic Organization in the City. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:131–147.Google Scholar
Widmer, Randolph 2009 Elite Household Multicrafting Specialization at 9N8, Patio H, Copan. In Housework: Specialization, Risk, and Domestic Craft Production in Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 174–204. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 19. American Anthropological Society, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Zeitlin, Robert 1982 Towards a More Comprehensive Model of Interregional Commodity Distribution: Political Variables and Prehistoric Obsidian Procurement in America. American Antiquity 47:260–275.Google Scholar