Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:34:35.803Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Obsidian Procurement and Distribution in the Tikal-Yaxha Intersite Area of the Central Maya Lowlands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Anabel Ford ,
Fred Stross ,
Frank Asaro  and
Helen V. Michel
Anabel Ford
Affiliation:
CORI MesoAmerican Research Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Fred Stross
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Frank Asaro
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Helen V. Michel
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Obsidian from known outcrops in the Mesoamerican highlands has been recovered from lowland Maya sites, providing significant evidence for long-distance procurement and local redistribution of obsidian by the ancient Maya. Prior chemical-characterization studies of obsidian from the lowland Maya area provide a foundation for the study of Tikal-Yaxha obsidian presented here. The samples used in this analysis came from middens associated with 12 residential units located between Tikal and Yaxha and dating from the Preclassic through Terminal Classic periods. The results of chemical sourcing of the Tikal-Yaxha samples generally lend support to current interpretations of changes in obsidian distribution and procurement in the central Maya lowlands. During the Preclassic period, most obsidian was imported from the San Martín Jilotepeque-Río Pixcaya source area. Obsidian from the El Chayal source predominated throughout the Classic period, although some Mexican Pachuca obsidian appeared in Early Classic contexts, and Ixtepepque obsidian was apparently restricted to the Terminal Classic period.

Type
Special Section: Recent Research on Obsidian in Mesoamerica
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997 , pp. 101 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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

Asaro, Frank, Michel, H.V., and Burger, R.L. 1981 Major Sources of Ecuadorian Obsidian and Provenience Assignment of Artifacts. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Report No. LBL-13246. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA.Google Scholar
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
Bowman, H., Asaro, F., and Perlman, I. 1973 On the Uniformity of Composition in Obsidian and Evidence for Magmatic Mixing. J. Geology 81:312–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E. 1977 MesoAmerican large polyhedral cores. Katunob 10:79–93.Google Scholar
Dreiss, Merideth L. 1985 Obsidian at Colha, Belize. Paper Presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Denver.Google Scholar
Dreiss, Merideth L. 1986 Obsidian at Colha, Belize: A Technological Analysis and Distributional Study Based on Trace Element Data. Thesis as part of the requirements for a Master of Arts submitted to University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas.Google Scholar
Ford, A. 1986 Population Growth and Social Complexity: Environment and Settlement in the Central Maya Lowlands. Anthropological Research Papers No. 35. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1972 Obsidian Trade Routes in the MayaArea. Science 178:1092–1093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, N., Neivens, M.D., and Harbottle, G. 1984 Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from a Classic Maya Residential Group at Nohmul, Belize. American Antiquity 49:815–820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harbottle, G. 1982 Chemical Characterization in Archaeology. In Contxts for Prehistoric Exchange, edited by Ericson, Jonathan E. and Earle, Timothy K., pp. 13–51. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healy, Paul F., McKillop, Heather I., and Walsh, B. 1984 Analysis of Obsidian from Moho Cay, Belize: New Evidence on Classic Maya Trade Routes. Science 225:414–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKillop, Heather, Jackson, Lawrence J., Michel, Helen, Stross, Fred, and Asaro, Frank 1988 Chemical Source Analysis of Maya Obsidian: New Perspectives from Wild Cane Cay, Belize. In Archaeometry 88: Proceedings of the 1988 International Symposium in Archaeometry, edited by Farquar, R., Hancock, R., and Pavlish, L., pp. 239–244. University of Toronto, Toronto.Google Scholar
Meighan, Clement W. 1976 Empirical Determination of Obsidian Hydration Rates from Archaeological Evidence. In Advances in Obsidian Glass Studies: Archaeological and Geochemical Perspectives, edited by Taylor, R.E., pp. 106–119. Noyes Press, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Meighan, C.W., and Scalise, Janet L. 1988 Obsidian Dates IV: A Compendium of Obsidian Hydration Determinations Made at the UCLA Hydration Laboratory. Monograph No. XXIX. Institute of Archaeology. University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Michels, Joseph W. 1973 Dating Methods in Archaeology. Seminar Press, NJ.Google Scholar
Michels, Joseph W., and Tsong, Ignatius 1980 Obsidian Hydration Dating: A Coming of Age. In Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 3, edited by Schiffer, Michael B., pp. 405–445. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, H., Asaro, F., and Stross, F. 1984 Tikal Obsidian: Sources and Typology. American Antiquity 49:104–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, F.W., Phillips, D.A., and Rubio, A. Barrera 1983 Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from the Northern Maya Lowlands. In Investigation at Edzna, Campeche, Mexico, Appendix A. New World Archaeological Foundation, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Nelson, F., Sidrys, R., and Holmes, R.D. 1978 Trace Element Analysis by X-ray Fluorescence of Obsidian Artifacts from Guatemala and Belize. In Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala. Artifacts, edited by Willey, Gordon R., pp. 153–161. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 14. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Perlman, I., and Asaro, F. 1969 Pottery Analysis by Neutron Activation. Archaeometry 11:21–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perlman, I., and Asaro, F. 1971 Pottery Analysis by Neutron Activation. In Science and Archaeology, edited by Brill, Robert H., pp. 182–195. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 1984 Obsidian Procurement in the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 11:181–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, Prudence M., Michel, Helen V., Asaro, Frank, and Stross, Fred 1985 Provenience Analysis of Obsidians from the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala. American Antiquity 50:581–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheets, Payson D. 1975 A reassessment of the Precolombian obsidian industry of El Chayal, Guatemala. American Antiquity 40:98–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidrys, R.V. 1976 Classic Maya Obsidian Trade. American Antiquity 41:449–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stross, F., Bowman, H., Michel, H., Asaro, F., and Hammond, N. 1978 Maya Obsidian: Source Correlation for Southern Belize Artifacts. Archaeometry 20:89–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stross, F., Sheets, P., Asaro, F., and Michel, H. 1983 Precise Characterization of Guatemalan Obsidian Sources and Source Determination of Artifacts from Quirigua. American Antiquity 48:323–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, R.E. (editor) 1976 Advances in Obsidian Glass Studies: Archaeological and Geochemical Perspectives. Noyes Press, Park Ridge, NJ.Google Scholar