Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-06T07:51:26.854Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Obsidian as Jewelry: Lapidary Production in Aztec Otumba, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Cynthia L. Otis Charlton
Cynthia L. Otis Charlton
Affiliation:
c/o T.H. Charlton, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Research carried out during the last three decades at the Late Postclassic city-state of Otumba, Mexico, has identified a wide variety of craft-production specializations. Data derived from excavations and surface collections made at the workshop site of one of Otumba's specialties—lapidary jewelry production—have revealed much of the process for the production of such jewelry, including ear spools, lip plugs, and beads, along with some possible secondary products, such as sequins and disks, all primarily made from obsidian. Besides the lapidary products themselves, many of the tools employed in production—made of obsidian, chert, and basalt—were found. The materials recovered enhance and expand upon the information available from colonial documentary sources, providing greater insight into this complicated and intriguing process.

Type
Special Section: Recent Research on Obsidian in Mesoamerica
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , Fall 1993 , pp. 231 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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

Aldenderfer, Mark 1990 Defining Lithics-Using Craft Specialties in Lowland Maya Society Through Microwear Analysis: Conceptual Problems and Issues. Aun 14: 53–70. Uppsala, Sweden.Google Scholar
Aldenderfer, Mark 1991 The Structure of Late Classic Lithic Assemblages in the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala. In Maya Stone Tools; Selected Papers from the Second Maya Lithic Conference, edited by Hester, T.R. and Shafer, H.J., pp. 119–141. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 1, Prehistory Press, Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Charlton, Thomas H. 1981 Otumba: Archaeology and Ethnohistory. Paper presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Diego.Google Scholar
Charlton, Thomas H. 1987 The Late Toltec Occupation of the Upper Teotihuacan Valley, Southeast Piedmont. In The Toltec Period Occupation of the Valley, pt. 2, edited by Sanders, W.T., pp. 539–576. The Teotihuacan Valley Project Final Report, vol. 4. Occasional Papers in Anthropology No. 15. Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google 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
Charlton, Thomas H., and Spence, Michael W. 1982 Obsidian Exploitation and Civilization in the Basin of Mexico. In Mining and Mining Techniques in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Weigand, P.C. and Gwynne, G., pp. 7–86. Anthropology No. 6. Special Edition. State University of New York, Stony Brook.Google Scholar
Gibson, Charles 1964 The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule. Stanford University Press, Stanford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
González Rui, Francisco 1979 La iltica en Tlatelolco. Colección Científica, Arqueología 74. Secretaria de Educación Pública, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Hicks, Frederic 1987 First Steps Toward a Market-Integrated Economy in Aztec Mexico. In Early State Dynamics, edited by Claussen, H.J.M. and van de Velde, P., pp. 91–107. Studies in Human Society No. 2. E.J. Brill, Leiden.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ixtlilxóchitl, Fernando de Alva 1965 Obras históricas. Annotated by A. Chavero, 2 vols. Editora Nacional, Mexico.Google Scholar
Kidder, A.V. 1947 The Artifacts of Uaxactun. Publication No. 576. Carnegie Institution of Washington. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Kidder, A.V., Jennings, J.D., and Shook, E.M. 1946 Excavations at Kaminaljuyu. Publication No. 561. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Lorenzo, José Luis 1968 Clima y agricultura en Teotihuacan. In Materiales para la argueología de Teotihuacan, edited by Lorenzo, J.L., pp. 51–72. Serie Investigaciones No. 17. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
McGuire, J.D. 1894 A Study of the Primitive Methods of Drilling. In Report of the United States National Museum, pp. 623–756. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Mirambell, Lorena E. 1968 Técnicas lapidarias prehispánicas. Serie Investigaciones No. 14. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Offner, Jerome A. 1979 A Reassessment of the Extent and Structuring of the Empire of Techotlalatzin, Fourteenth Century Ruler of Texcoco. Ethnohistory 26: 231–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orchard, William C. 1927 Obsidian Ear Ornaments. Indian Notes IV:216–221. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York.Google Scholar
Otis Charlton, Cynthia 1990 Operation 11, Field 169, Mound 41, Lapidary Workshop. In Preliminary Report on Recent Research in the Otumba City-State, edited by Charlton, T.H., and Nichols, D.L., pp. 177–199. Early State Formation Processes: The Aztec City-State of Otumba, Mexico pt. I, vol. 1. Final Report submitted to the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, and Research Report No. 3, Mesoamerican Research Colloquium, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Otis Charlton, Cynthia 1991 Los procesos de desarrollo de los estados tempranos. El caso del estado azteca de Otumba. Excavación de un taller de lapidaria. Boletín del Consejo de Arqueología 1990, pp. 74–78. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar
Otis Charlton, Cynthia 1993 Plebeians and Patricians: Contrasting Patterns of Production and Distribution in the Aztec Figurine and Lapidary Industries. In Economies and Polities in the Aztec Realm, edited by Hodge, M.G. and Smith, M.E., IMS Studies on Culture and Society Series No. 5. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York, Albany, in press.Google Scholar
Otis Charlton, Cynthia, Charlton, Thomas H., and Nichols, Deborah L. 1993 Aztec Household-Based Craft Production: Archaeological Evidence from the City-Satae of Otumba, Mexico. In Prehispanic Domestic Units in Western Mesoamerica: Studies of the Household, Compound and Residence, edited by Santley, R.S. and Hirth, K.G., pp. 147–171. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.Google Scholar
Parry, William J. 1990 Analysis of Chipped Stone Artifacts from Otumba (TA-80) and Neighboring Rural Sites in the Eastern Teotihuacan Valley of Mexico. In Preliminary Report on Recent Research in the Otumba City-State, 3 vols., edited by Charlton, T.H. and Nichols, D.H., pp. 73–88, 504–514. Early State Formation Processes: The Aztec City-State of Otumba, Mexico, pt. I. Final Report submitted to the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, and Research Report No. 3, Mesoamerican Research Colloquium, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Rau, Charles 1868 Drilling in Stone without Metal. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, pp. 392–400. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1950–1982 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. Edited and translated by Anderson, A.J.O. and Dibble, C.E.. Monograph No. 14, pts. 1–13. School of American Research, Santa Fe, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Thomsen, E.G., and Thomsen, H.H. 1970 Precolumbian Obsidian Earspools: An Investigation of Pos sible Manufacturing Methods. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility 8: 41–53. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Thomsen, E.G., and Thomsen, H.H. 1971 Litho-Mechanics and Archaeology. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility 12: 51–62. Berkeley.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: 131–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar