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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
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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

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