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The Organization of Obsidian Exchange at Middle Postclassic Sauce and Its Hinterland in Veracruz, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2021

Alanna Ossa Open the ORCID record for Alanna Ossa [Opens in a new window]
Alanna Ossa*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Oswego, NY, USA
*
([email protected]; corresponding author)
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Abstract

To describe the structure of production and the organization of exchange of obsidian chipped stone during the Middle Postclassic period (AD 1200–1350) in south-central Veracruz, Mexico, I analyzed 65 residential inventories from the center of Sauce and its hinterland. Previous research on obsidian production found a spatial association with Sauce, which could support the political administration of exchange, or alternatively, identify market exchange nearby. I argue that reliance on spatially based models alone for identifying exchange mechanisms is not advisable because of potential equifinality, in which different forms of exchange appear alike. Local obsidian artifacts have additional interpretive complications: they come from a single geological source, there was universal access to them, and they were employed in potentially specialized activities. I used the articulation of production combined with spatial distribution and residential contextual information to distinguish between redistribution and market exchange. Results indicate that market exchange is the main mechanism. The largest concentrations of primary production indicators and the highest quantities of blade segments were found near the Sauce center, which suggest that political elites at Sauce encouraged market exchange, although they did not direct it to the extent that they were controlling significant amounts of obsidian.

Este artículo examina los artefactos de obsidiana de 65 colecciones residenciales del centro de Sauce y su hinterland en combinación con patrones de asentamiento para describir la estructura de producción y la organización del intercambio de obsidiana durante el Posclásico Medio (1200-1350 dC) en el centro-sur de Veracruz, México. Investigaciones previas identificaron una asociación espacial entre Sauce y la producción de obsidiana que podría sugerir la administración política del intercambio o, alternativamente, identificar un mercado en el área cercana. Sostengo que no se puede solo usar modelos espaciales para identificar los mecanismos de intercambio por el problema de la equifinalidad. Otros factores como fuente geológica única, acceso universal, y posibles actividades especializadas pueden complicar las interpretaciones sobre los artefactos de obsidiana. Este estudio utiliza la articulación de la producción en combinación con su distribución espacial y la información contextual para distinguir entre la redistribución y el intercambio de mercado. Los resultados indican que el mercado es el mecanismo principal. Las mayores concentraciones de indicadores de producción primaria se encontraron cerca del centro de Sauce, junto con las mayores cantidades de navajas prismáticas. Lo anterior sugiere que las élites de Sauce fomentaron el intercambio mercantil, aunque no lo dirigieron.

Keywords

Postclassic MesoamericaVeracruzobsidiancraft productionexchange systemsPostclassic MesoamericaVeracruzobsidianproduccíonsistemas de intercambio
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 318 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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