Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:26:36.174Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

OBSIDIAN BIFACE PRODUCTION AT TEOTIHUACAN: REEXAMINING A COYOTLATELCO PHASE WORKSHOP FROM HACIENDA METEPEC

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

Zachary Nelson
Zachary Nelson*
Affiliation:
ENTRIX Inc., 807 East South Temple, Suite 350, Salt Lake City, UT 84102, USA
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper provides a reanalysis of a specialized biface workshop at Coyotlatelco-phase (a.d. 650–800) Teotihuacan excavated by Evelyn Rattray in 1979. Although Teotihuacan had already declined as a major center prior to this phase, the resident population was still being serviced by a variety of craftsmen, including knappers. The remains of an obsidian workshop at Hacienda Metepec give insight into workshop production within Epiclassic-period Teotihuacan. A single workshop produced between 4,700 and 8,700 projectile points similar in shape to San Marcos points. The homogeneous workmanship indicates a single knapper, perhaps over several years of effort.

Type
Special Section: New Directions in the Study of Mesoamerican Lithic Economy
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , Spring 2009 , pp. 149 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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, Bradford W. 1999 Craftsman Skill and Specialization: Investigating the Craft Production of Prehispanic Obsidian Blades at Xochicalco and Teotihuacan, Mexico. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Behm, Jeffrey A. 1983 Flake Concentrations: Distinguishing Between Flint-Working Activity Areas and Secondary Deposits. Lithic Technology 12:9–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabrera Cortés, M. Oralia 2004 Craft Production and Socio-Economic Marginality: Living on the Periphery of Teotihuacán, México. Report submitted to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI). Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/reports/03090/index.html, accessed February 15, 2007.Google Scholar
Carballo, David 2005 State Political Authority and Obsidian Craft Production at the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan, Mexico. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Carrier, James G. 1992 Emerging Alienation in Production: A Maussian History. Man (N.S.) 27:539–558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charlton, Thomas H., Nichols, Deborah L., and Charlton, Cynthia Otis 1991 Aztec Craft Production and Specialization: Archaeological Evidence from the City-State of Otumba, Mexico. World Archaeology 23:98–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E. 1986 From Mountains to Molehills: A Critical Review of Teotihuacán's Obsidian Industry. In Research in Economic Anthropology: A Research Annual Supplement 2/1986: Economic Aspects of Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Isaac, Barry L., pp. 23–74. JAI Press Inc., London.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1989 Hacia una definición de talleres. In La obsidiana en Mesoamérica, edited by González, Margarita Gaxiola and Clark, John E., pp. 213–217. Collección Científica No. 176. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1990 Fifteen Fallacies in Lithic Workshop Interpretation: An Experimental and Ethnoarchaeological Perspective. In Etnoarcheología primer coloquio Bosch-Gimpera, edited by Yamamoto, Yoko Sugiura and Puche, Mari Carmen Serra, pp. 497–512. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 1991 Flintknapping and Debitage Disposal among the Lacandon Maya of Chiapas, Mexico. In The Ethnoarchaeology of Refuse Disposal, edited by Staski, Edward and Sutro, Livingston D., pp. 63–88. Anthropological Research Papers No. 42. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 2003a A Review of Twentieth-Century Mesoamerican Obsidian Studies. In Mesoamerican Lithic Technology: Experimentation and Interpretation, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 15–54. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Clark, John E. 2003b 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
Costin, Cathy L. 1991 Craft Specialization: Issues in Defining, Documenting, and Explaining the Organization of Production. In Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 1, edited by Schiffer, Michael B., pp. 1–56. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Costin, Cathy L., and Hagstrum, Melissa B. 1995 Standardization, Labor Investment, Skill, and the Organization of Ceramic Production in Late Prehispanic Highland Peru. American Antiquity 60:619–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 1997 State and Society at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Annual Review of Anthropology 26:129–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diehl, Richard 1989 A Shadow of Its Former Self: Teotihuacan during the Coyotlatelco Period. In Mesoamerica after the Decline of Teotihuacan, A.D. 700–900, edited by Diehl, Richard A. and Berlo, Janet Catherine, pp. 9–18. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Donham, Donald L. 1981 Beyond the Domestic Mode of Production. Man (N.S.) 16:515–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drennan, Robert D., Fitzgibbons, Philip T., and Dehn, Heinz 1990 Imports and Exports in Classic Mesoamerican Political Economy: The Tehuacán Valley and the Teotihuacán Obsidian Industry. Research in Economic Anthropology 12:177–199.Google Scholar
Gómez Chávez, Sergio, and Castro, Rubén Cabrera 2006 Contextos de la ocupación Coyotlatelco en Teotihuacan. In El fenómeno Coyotlatelco en el centro de México: tiempo, espacio y significado, edited by Valverde, Laura Solar, pp. 231–256. Memoria del Primer Seminario-Taller sobre Problemáticas Regionales. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan M. 1992 A Comment on Moholy-Nagy's “The Misidentification of Lithic Workshops.” Latin American Antiquity 3:240–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healan, Dan M. 1995 Identifying Lithic Reduction Loci with Size-Graded Macrodebitage: A Multivariate Approach. American Antiquity 60:689–699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hester, Thomas R. 1986 On the Misuse of Projectile Point Typology in Mesoamerica. American Antiquity 51:412–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hester, Thomas R., and Shafer, Harry J. 1992 Lithic Workshops Revisited: Comments on Moholy-Nagy. Latin American Antiquity 3:243–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark, Vidale, Massimo, and Bhan, Kuldeep Kumar 1991 Contemporary Stone Beadmaking in Khambhat, India: Patterns of Craft Specialization and Organization of Production as Reflected in the Archaeological Record. World Archaeology 23:44–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallory, John K. 1986 Workshops and “Specialized Production” in the Production of Maya Chert Tools: A Response to Shafer and Hester. American Antiquity 51:152–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millon, René 1981 Teotihuacan: City, State, and Civilization. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 1, edited by Bricker, Victoria R. and Sabloff, Jeremy A., pp. 198–243. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Millon, René, Drewitt, Bruce, and Cowgill, George 1973 The Teotihuacan Map. In Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico, Vol. 1, Pt. 2, edited by Millon, René, University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1990 The Misidentification of Mesoamerican Lithic Workshops. Latin American Antiquity 1:268–279CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1992 Lithic Deposits as Waste Management: Reply to Healan and to Hester and Shafer. Latin American Antiquity 3:249–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moragas Segura, Natàlia 2005 Sobreviviendo al colapso: teotihuacanos y coyotlatelcos en Teotihuacan. Revista Española de Antropología Americana 35:33–50.Google Scholar
Nelson, Zachary 2000 Analysis of an Obsidian Workshop at Hacienda Metepec, Teotihuacán, Mexico, AD 700–800. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Pasztory, Esther 1997 Teotihuacan, an Experiment in Living. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn Childs 1979 Obsidian Production at Teotihuacan in the Coyotlatelco Phase. Paper presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn Childs 1980 Las investigaciones en la Hacienda Metepec, Teotihuacan, Estado de México. Report presented to Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn Childs 1981 La industria de la obsidiana durante el período Coyotlatelco. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 27:213–223.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn Childs 1987 La producción y la distribución de obsidiana en el período Coyotlatelco en Teotihuacan. In Teotihuacán: nuevos datos, nuevas síntesis, nuevos problemas, edited by Tapia, Emily McClung de and Rattray, Evelyn Childs, pp. 451–463. Serie Antropológica 72. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.Google Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn Childs 1989 Un taller de bifaciales de obsidiana del período Coyotlatelco en la Hacienda Metepec, en Teotihuacán. In La obsidiana en Mesoamérica, edited by González, Margarita Gaxiola and Clark, John E., pp. 243–252. Colección Científica 176. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Saberon, Shelby 1997 An Obsidian Workshop Deposit at Hacienda Metepec, Teotihuacan. Unpublished Undergraduate Honors thesis, Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Sanders, William T., and Santley, Robert S. 1983 A Tale of Three Cities: Energetics and Urbanization in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. In Prehistoric Settlement Patterns: Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited by Vogt, Evon Z. and Leventhal, Richard M., pp. 243–291. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Santley, Robert. S. 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 G., pp. 43–86. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Shafer, Harry J., and Hester, Thomas R. 1986 Maya Stone-Tool Craft Specialization and Production at Colha, Belize: A Reply to Mallory. American Antiquity 51:158–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, Harry J., and Hester, Thomas R. 1991 Lithic Craft Specialization and Product Distribution at the Maya Site of Colha, Belize. World Archaeology 23:79–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheehy, James J. 1992 Ceramic Production in Ancient Teotihuacan, Mexico: A Case Study of Tlajinga 33. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Solar Valverde, Laura (editor) 2006 El fenómeno Coyotlatelco en el centro de México: tiempo, espacio y significado. Memoria del Primer Seminario-Taller sobre Problemáticas Regionales. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1967 The Obsidian Industry at Teotihuacán. American Antiquity 32:507–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1977 Teotihuacán y el intercambio de obsidiana en Mesoamérica. In Los Procesos de Cambio, XV Mesa Redonda de la Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología, 2:293–300. Guanajuato, México.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1981 Obsidian Production and the State in Teotihuacan. American Antiquity 87:519–535.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W. 1987 The Scale and Structure of Obsidian Production in Teotihuacan. In Teotihuacán: nuevos datos, nuevas síntesis, nuevos problemas, edited by Tapia, Emily McClung de and Rattray, Evelyn Childs, pp. 429–450. Serie Antropologíca 72. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Kristin 2004 Making and Manipulating Ritual in the City of the Gods: Figurine Production and Use at Teotihuacán, México. Report submitted to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (FAMSI). Electronic document, http://www.famsi.org/reports/03021/index.html, accessed September 25, 2006.Google Scholar
Turner, Margaret H. 1987 The Lapidary Industry of Teotihuacan, Mexico. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Rochester, New York.Google Scholar
Widmer, Randolph J. 1991 Lapidary Craft Specialization at Teotihuacan: Implications for Community Structure at 33:S3W1 and Economic Organization in the City. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:131–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar