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SHIFTING PATTERNS OF OBSIDIAN EXCHANGE IN POSTCLASSIC OAXACA, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2011

Marc N. Levine ,
Arthur A. Joyce  and
Michael D. Glascock
Marc N. Levine*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80205
Arthur A. Joyce
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Hale Building, Campus Box 233, Boulder, CO 80309-0233
Michael D. Glascock
Affiliation:
230 Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper, we present a diachronic analysis of obsidian procurement patterns during the Postclassic period in the Lower Río Verde region of Oaxaca. The study is based on x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and visual analysis of obsidian artifacts from excavated household contexts at Early Postclassic (a.d. 800–1100) Río Viejo and Late Postclassic (a.d. 1100–1522) Tututepec (Yucu Dzaa). We report the presence of at least six sources of obsidian imported to the lower Río Verde region in the Early Postclassic, whereas during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries of the Late Postclassic, the local assemblage was dominated by obsidian from Pico de Orizaba and Pachuca. Changes in obsidian procurement patterns in the lower Río Verde region through time are interpreted in light of sociopolitical change at the local, regional, and macroregional scales. The study represents the most detailed analysis of Postclassic period obsidian exchange yet reported from Oaxaca.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , Spring 2011 , pp. 123 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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