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Obsidian in Southern Ecuador: The Carboncillo Source

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Dennis E. Ogburn
Dennis E. Ogburn*
Affiliation:
Department Of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 (dogburn@uncc.edu)
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Abstract

The Carboncillo area in the southern highlands of Ecuador is identified as the only confirmed source of archaeological obsidian located in the country outside of the northern highlands and is the first identified in the large gap between the known Ecuadorian and Peruvian sources. With the identification of this source, it can no longer be assumed that all obsidian found in Ecuador came from sources in the northern highlands. Thus the Carboncillo source has significant implications for interpreting patterns of long-distance exchange in the Andes, especially in southern Ecuador and the far north of Peru. A geochemical analysis of the Carboncillo material shows that it can be easily distinguished from the obsidian from other Ecuadorian sources. A provenance study of archaeological obsidian samples from the southern highlands of Ecuador using x-ray fluorescence demonstrates that the Carboncillo obsidian was used at the Preceramic site of Chobshi Cave and at a number of late prehispanic sites in the Saraguro region. The results indicate a high level of sociopolitical and economic isolation in late prehistory, most likely tied to a preoccupation with warfare between neighboring groups, and provide additional evidence that the economic organization of the southern highlands differed markedly from that of the north during this time.

Resumen

Resumen

El área de Carboncillo en la sierra sur del Ecuador está identificada como la única fuente confirmada de obsidiana arqueológica localizada en el país fuera de la sierra septentrional, y la primera identificada en el gran espacio entre las fuentes ecuatorianas y peruanas conocidas. Con la identificación de esta fuente ya no se puede suponer que toda la obsidiana encontrada en Ecuador viniera de fuentes en las sierras del norte. Así la fuente de Carboncillo tiene implicaciones significativas para interpretar los patrones de intercambio a larga distancia en los Andes, especialmente en el sur de Ecuador y el norte de Perú. Un análisis geoquímico del material de Carboncillo muestra que éste puede distinguirse fácilmente de la obsidiana de otras fuentes ecuatorianas. Un estudio de procedencia usando fluorescencia de rayos x en muestras de obsidiana arqueológica de las sierras ecuatorianas demuestra que la obsidiana de Carboncillo fue usada en el sitio precerámico de la Cueva de Chobshi y en una serie de sitios prehispánicos tardíos en la región de Saraguro. Los resultados indican un alto nivel de aislamiento sociopolítico y económico en la prehistoria tardía, muy probablemente vinculado a una preocupación por guerra entre grupos vecinos, y proporcionan evidencia adicional de que la organización económica de las sierras del sur difería marcadamente de la del norte durante este tiempo.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 97 - 120
Copyright
Copyright ©2011 by the Society for American Archaeology

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References

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