Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T22:42:19.563Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preclassic Obsidian Procurement and Utilization at the Maya Site of Colha, Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David O. Brown ,
Meredith L. Dreiss  and
Richard E. Hughes
David O. Brown
Affiliation:
Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1100, david.brown@mail.utexas.edu
Meredith L. Dreiss
Affiliation:
Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1100, MLDreiss@aol.com
Richard E. Hughes
Affiliation:
Geochemical Research Laboratory, 20 Portola Green Circle, Portola Valley CA 94028–7833, rehughes@silcon.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study explores the early use of obsidian at the Maya site of Colha in northern Belize and the implications that variations in source distribution have for the site and its regional connections. Energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis of 104 specimens of obsidian from Preclassic contexts at the site identified El Chayal obsidian as the most common overall followed closely by that from San Martin Jilotepeque. Ixtepeque obsidian, not common in many Preclassic assemblages, was also strongly represented. The results revealed a Middle Preclassic dependence on San Martin obsidian gradually diminishing through the Preclassic to the Classic period, when San Martin all but disappears from the site. A corresponding increase in El Chayal obsidian use through time at Colha coincides with the rise of Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemalan highlands. Analysis of the obsidian by context indicated that El Chayal obsidian dominated in architectural and ritual deposits while Ixtepeque obsidian was the most common in workshops. San Martin accounted for a slightly greater percentage than El Chayal obsidian in middens, with Ixtepeque materials notably less common. The data indicate that Colha was connected to a broad distribution network from the Middle Preclassic onward, and that obsidian source variability was greater during the Preclassic than the subsequent Classic period.

Este estudio explora el uso temprano de obsidiana en Colha en el none del Belice y las implicaciones de las variaciones en la distribución de las varias fuentes conocidas para el sitio y sus conexiones dentro de la región. El análisis de 104 especimenes de contextos Preclásicos por espectrometría fluorescente de rayos-x tipo energía dispersiva (EDXRF) se ha identificado lafuente de El Chayal como la más común, seguido estrechamente por San Martin Jilotepeque y también por Ixtepeque unafuente escasa en muchas colecciones Preclásicas. Los resultados revelaron una dependencia de la obsidiana de San Martín durante el Preclásico Medio que disminuia hasta elperiodo Clásico, cuando casi se desapareció. Un contemporáneo aumento de la obsidiana de El Chayal coincide con el crecimiento del Kaminaljuyú. El análisis por contextos indicó que la obsidiana de El Chayal dominó en capas arquitectónicos y rituales, mientras que la de Ixtepeque en talleres. La obsidiana de San Martín se mostró un porcentaje ligeramente más grande que la de El Chayal en basurales, mientras que la de Ixtepeque fue mucho menos común. Colha fue conectado a una red distributiva desde el Preclásico Medio, y la variabilidad en las fuentes fue más amplia durante el Preclásico que el Clásico.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 2004 , pp. 222 - 240
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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 Cited

Anthony, Dana 1987 An Analysis of the Preclassic Households beneath the Main Plaza at Colha, Belize. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Anthony, Dana, and Black, Stephen L. 1994 Operation 2031: The 1983 Main Plaza Excavations. In Continuing Archaeology at Colha, Belize, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Harry J. Shafer and Jack D. Eaton, pp. 39–58. Studies in Archeology 16. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo, Tashiro, Toshiharu, and Glascock, Michael D. 1999 A Pre-Columbian Obsidian Source in San Luis, Honduras: Implications for the Relationship between Late Classic Maya Political Boundaries and the Boundaries of Obsidian Exchange Networks. Ancient Mesoamerica 10:237–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asaro, Frank, Michel, Helen V., Sidrys, Raymond, and Stross, Fred H. 1978 High Precision Chemical Characterization of Major Obsidian Sources in Guatemala. American Antiquity 43:436–443.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J., and Healy, Paul F. 1994 Flakes to Blades? Middle Formative Development of Obsidian Artifacts in the Upper Belize River Valley. Latin American Antiquity 5:193–205.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J., Healy, Paul F., Stevenson, Christopher M., and Hohmann, Bobbi 1996 Preclassic Maya Obsidian in the Belize Valley. In Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project: Report of the 1995 Field Season, edited by Paul F. Healy and Jaime J. Awe, pp. 153–174. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, No. 12. Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E., Clark, John E., Aoyama, Kazuo, McKillop, Heather I., and Glascock, Michael D. 2000 Determining the Geological Provenance of Obsidian Artifacts from the Maya Region: A Test of the Efficacy of Visual Sourcing. Latin American Antiquity 11:269–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E., and Glascock, Michael D. 1998 Interpreting Intrasource Variation in the Composition of Obsidian: The Geoarchaeology of San Martín Jilotepeque, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 9:353–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Kenneth 1977 The Valley of Guatemala: A Highland Port of Trade. In Teotihuacán and Kaminaljuyú, edited by William T. Sanders and Joseph W. Michels, pp. 205–396. Monograph Series on Kaminaljuyú. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Buttles, Palma 1992 Small Finds in Context: The Preclassic Artifacts of Colha, Belize. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Carpio Rezzio, Edgar H. 1989 Las herramientas de obsidiana en Balberta: Tecnología y función. Tesis de Licenciatura en Arqueología. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.Google Scholar
Carpio Rezzio, Edgar H. 1997 Observaciones y comentarios adicionales sobre los artefactos de obsidiana de Kaminaljuyú/San Jorge. In Kaminaljuyú/San Jorge: Evidencia arqueológica de la actividad económica en el Valle de Guatemala, 300 a. C. a 300 d. C., edited by Marion Popenoe de Hatch, pp. 81–84. Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Salcedo Romero, T. 1989 Ocos Obsidian Distribution in Chiapas, Mexico. In New Frontiers in the Archaeology of the Pacific Coast of Southern Mesoamerica, edited by Frederick J. Bove and Lynette Heller, pp. 15–24. Anthropological Research Papers, No. 39. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Cobean, Robert H., Vogt, James R., Glascock, Michael D., and Stocker, Terrance L. 1991 High-Precision Trace-Element Characterization of Major Mesoamerican Obsidian Sources and Further Analyses of Artifacts from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 2:69–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Day, D. William, and Laurens, Jane C. 1980 Excavations at Operation 2003, 1980 Season. In The Colha Project Second Season 1980 Interim Report, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Jack D. Eaton, and Harry J. Shafer, pp. 71–86. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venice.Google Scholar
Dreiss, Meredith L. 1988 Obsidian at Colha, Belize: A Technological Analysis and Distributional Study Based on Trace Element Data. Papers of the Colha Project, Vol. 4. Jointly published by Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, and Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio.Google Scholar
Dreiss, Meredith L. 1989 An Obsidian Distribution Model for the Belize Periphery. In Coastal Maya Trade, edited by Heather McKillop and Paul F. Healy, pp. 79–90. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, No. 8. Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.Google Scholar
Dreiss, Meredith L. 1994 The Shell Artifacts of Colha: The 1983 Season. In Continuing Archaeology at Colha, Belize, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Harry J. Shafer and Jack D. Eaton, pp. 177–200, Studies in Archeology 16. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Dreiss, Meredith L., and Brown, David O. 1989 Obsidian Exchange Patterns in Belize. In Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize, edited by Patricia A. McAnany and Barry L. Isaac, pp. 57–90. Research in Economic Anthropology, supplement No. 4. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Dreiss, Meredith L., Brown, David O., Hester, Thomas R., Glascock, Michael D., Neff, Hector, and Stryker, Kathryn S. 1993 Obsidian Use in the Late and Terminal Classic Periods at the Lowland Maya Site of Colha, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 4:271–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eaton, Jack D. 1979 Preliminary Observations of the Architecture of Colha, Belize. In The Colha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Thomas R. Hester, pp. 79–98. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Eaton, Jack D. 1980a Architecture and Settlement at Colha, Belize. In The Colha Project Second Season 1980 Interim Report, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Jack D. Eaton, and Harry J. Shafer, pp. 41–50. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venice.Google Scholar
Eaton, Jack D. 1980b Operation 2011: Investigations within the Main Plaza of the Monumental Center of Colha. In The Colha Project Second Season 1980 Interim Report, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Jack D. Eaton, and Harry J. Shafer, pp. 145–162. Center for Archaeological Research. University of Texas at San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venice.Google Scholar
Escobedo, James T. Jr. 1979 Excavations at Operation 2002: Lithic Workshop and Plazuela Group. In The Colha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Thomas R. Hester, pp. 118–125. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio.Google Scholar
Fowler, William R. Jr., Demarest, Arthur A., Michel, Helen V., Asaro, F., and Stross, Fred H. 1989 Sources of Obsidian from El Mirador, Guatemala: New Evidence on Preclassic Maya Interaction. American Anthropologist 91:158–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glascock, Michael D. 2002 Characterization of the Obsidian Sources in Northern Mexico. In A World of Obsidian: The Mining and Trade of a Volcanic Glass in Ancient Mesoamerica, by Robert H. Cobean, pp. 205–237. Latin American Archaeology Publications, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Glascock, Michael D., and Cobean, Robert H. 2002 A Summary of Elemental Concentration Data for the Obsidian Source Groups in Mexico. In A World of Obsidian: The Mining and Trade of a Volcanic Glass in Ancient Mesoamerica, by Robert H. Cobean, pp. 239–276. Latin American Archaeology Publications, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Haines, Helen R. 2000 Intra-site Obsidian Distribution and Consumption Patterns in Northern Belize and the North-Eastern Peten. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University of London.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1972 Obsidian Trade Routes in the Mayan Area. Science 178:1092–1093.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammond, Norman 1976 Maya Obsidian Trade in Southern Belize. In Maya Lithic Studies: Papers from the 1976 Field Symposium, edited by Thomas R. Hester and Norman Hammond, pp. 71–82. Special Report No. 4. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1991 Obsidian Trade. In: Cuello: An Early Maya Community in Belize. Edited by Norman Hammond, pp. 197–198. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Healy, Paul R, 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
Hester, Thomas R., and Michel, Helen V 1980 Geologic Sources of Obsidian Artifacts from the Site of Colha, Belize. In The Colha Project Second Season 1980 Interim Report, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Jack D. Eaton, and Harry J. Shafer, pp. 313–315. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venice.Google Scholar
Hester, Thomas R., and Shafer, Harry J. 1984 Exploitation of Chert Resources by the Ancient Maya of Northern Belize, Central America. World Archaeology 16:157–173.Google Scholar
Hester, Thomas R., and Shafer, Harry J. 1987 Observations on Ancient Maya Core Technologies at Colha, Belize. In The Organization of Core Technology, edited by Jay K. Johnson and Carol A. Morrow, pp. 239–257. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Hester, Thomas R., and Shafer, Harry J. 1989 The Ancient Maya Craft Community at Colha Belize and Its External Relationships. Texas Papers on Latin America No. 89–11. University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Hester, Thomas R., and Shafer, Harry J. 1992 Lithic Workshops Revisited: Comments on Moholy-Nagy. Latin America Antiquity 3:243–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, Richard E. 1988 The Coso Volcanic Field Reexamined: Implications for Obsidian Sourcing and Hydration Dating Research. Geoarchaeology 3:253–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, Richard E. 1994 Intrasource Chemical Variability of Artefact-Quality Obsidians from the Casa Diablo Area, California. Journal of Archaeological Science 21:263–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, Richard E. 1998 On Reliability, Validity, and Scale in Obsidian Sourcing Research. In Unit Issues in Archaeology: Measuring Time, Space and Material, edited by Ann F. Ramenofsky and Anastasia Steffen, pp. 103–114. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Iceland, Harry 1997 The Preceramic Origins of the Maya: The Results of the Colha Preceramic Project in Northern Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Jackson, Thomas L., and Love, Michael W. 1991 Blade Running: Middle Preclassic Obsidian Exchange and the Introduction of Prismatic Blades at La Blanca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:47–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A., and Henderson, John S. 2001 Beginnings of Village Life in Eastern Mesoamerica. Latin American Antiquity 12(1):5–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, Jonathon 2000 Monument 65: A Great Emblematic Depiction of Throned Rule and Royal Sacrifice at Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyú. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:185–198.Google Scholar
King, Eleanor M. 2000 The Organization of Late Classic Lithic Production at the Prehistoric Maya Site of Colha, Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
McAnany, Patricia A. 1989 Stone Tool Production and Exchange in the Eastern Maya Lowlands: The Consumer Perspective from Pull-trouser Swamp, Belize. American Antiquity 54:332–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKillop, Heather I. 1989 Coastal Maya Trade: Obsidian Densities at Wild Cane Cay. In Prehistoric Maya Economies of Belize, edited by Patricia A. McAnany and Barry L. Isaac, pp. 17–56. Research in Economic Anthropology, supplement No. 4. JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.Google Scholar
McKillop, Heather I. 1996 Ancient Maya Trading Ports and the Integration of Long-Distance and Regional Economies: Wild Cane Cay in South-Coastal Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 7:49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKillop, Heather, and Jackson, L. 1988 Ancient Maya Obsidian Sources and Trade Routes. In Obsidian Dates IV: A Compendium of the Obsidian Hydration Determinations Made at the UCLA Laboratory, edited by Clement W. Meighan and Janet L. Scalise, pp. 130–141. Monograph No. 29. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
McKillop, Heather I., 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 26th International Archaeometry Symposium, edited by Ron M. Farquhar, Ron G. V. Hancock, and Lawrence A. Pavlish, pp. 239–244. Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, J. Jefferson 1989 Coastal Maya Trade Routes in Southern Belize. In Coastal Maya Trade, edited by Heather McKillop and Paul F. Healy, pp. 111–122. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, No. 8. Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.Google Scholar
Nelson, Fred W. Jr. 1985 Summary of the Results of Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from the Maya Lowlands. Scanning Electron Microscopy 11:631–649.Google Scholar
Nelson, Fred W. Jr., and Clark, John E. 1998 Obsidian Production and Exchange in Eastern Mesoamerica. In Rutas de intercambio en Mesoamerica, edited by Evelyn Rattray, pp. 277–333. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas.Google Scholar
Popenoe de Hatch, Marion 1997 Kaminaljuyú/San Jorge: Evidencia arqueológica de la actividad económica en el Valle de Guatemala, 300 a.C. a 300 d. C. Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.Google Scholar
Potter, Daniel R. 1982 Some Results of the Second Year of Excavations at Operation 2012. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize: The 1981 Interim Report, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Harry J. Shafer and Jack D. Eaton, pp. 98–122. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Centre Studi e Recerche Ligabue, Venice.Google Scholar
Potter, Daniel R. 1992 Strat 55 and the Evolution of Lowland Maya Blood Ritual. Paper presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 1984 Obsidian Procurement in the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala. American Antiquity 50:591–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roemer, Erwin Jr. 1979 Excavations at Operation 2006, a Lithic Worshop. In The Colha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Thomas R. Hester, pp. 99–107. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio.Google Scholar
Roemer, Erwin Jr. 1982 Investigations at Four Lithic Workshops at Colha, Belize: 1981 Season. In Archaeology at Colha, Belize: The 1981 Interim Report, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Harry J. Shafer and Jack D. Eaton, pp. 75–84. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venice.Google Scholar
Sánchez Polo, Rómulo 1991 Las navajas de obsidiana de Kaminaljuyú/San Jorge: Un estudio tecnológico funcional. Tesis de Licenciatura en Arqueología. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.Google Scholar
Santone, Lenore 1997 Transport Costs, Consumer Demand and Patterns of Intraregional Exchange: A Perspective on Commodity Production and Distribution from Northern Belize. Latin America Antiquity 8:71–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, Harry J. 1979 A Technological Study of Two Maya Lithic Workshops at Colha, Belize. In The Colha Project, 1979: A Collection of Interim Papers, edited by Thomas R. Hester, pp. 28–78. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio.Google Scholar
Shafer, Harry J. 1994 Community-Wide Lithic Craft Specialization in the Late Preclassic Lowland Maya: A Case for Northern Belize. In Continuing Archaeology at Colha, Belize, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Harry J. Shafer and Jack D. Eaton, pp. 25–30. Studies in Archeology 16. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Shafer, Harry J. and Hester, Thomas R. 1983 Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize, Central America American Antiquity 48:5l9-543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafer, Harry J. and Hester, Thomas R. 1991 Lithic Craft Specialization and Production Distribution at the Maya Site of Colha, Belize. World Archaeology 23:79–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidrys, Raymond, and Kimberlin, Jerome 1979 Use of Mayan Obsidian Sources through Time: Trace Element Data from El Bálsamo, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 6:116–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stross, Fred H., Hester, Thomas R., Heizer, Robert F., and Jack, Robert N. 1976 Chemical and Archaeological Studies of Mesoamerican Obsidians. In Advances in Obsidian Glass Studies: Archaeological and Geochemical Perspectives, edited by R. E. Taylor, pp. 240–258. Noyes Press, Park Ridge, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Stross, Fred H., Sheets, Payson, Asaro, Frank, and Michel, Helen V. 1983 Precise Characterization of Guatemalan Obsidian Sources, and Source Determination of Artifacts from Quirigua. American Antiquity 48:323–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, Lauren A. 1991 Preclassic Domestic Architecture at Colha, Belize. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Tobey, Mark H., Shafer, Harry J., and Marvin, W. Rowe 1994 Trace Element Investigations of Chert from Northern Belize. In Continuing Archaeology at Colha, Belize, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Harry J. Shafer and Jack D. Eaton, pp. 267–276. Studies in Archeology 16. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Valdez, Fred 1994 The Colha Ceramic Complexes. In Continuing Archaeology at Colha, Belize, edited by Thomas R. Hester, Harry J. Shafer and Jack D. Eaton, pp. 9–16. Studies in Archeology 16. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, the University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Valdez, Fred, and Mock, Shirley 1991 Additional Considerations for Prehispanic Saltmaking in Belize. American Antiquity 56:520–525.Google Scholar
Woodward, Michelle R. 1996 Trace Element and Technological Analyses of Obsidian Artifacts from the Northern Ridge of Lake Atitlan, Department of Solola, Guatemala. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station.Google Scholar