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Obsidian Sources and Elemental Analyses of Artifacts in Southern Mesoamerica and the Northern Intermediate Area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Payson Sheets ,
Kenneth Hirth ,
Fred Lange ,
Fred Stross ,
Frank Asaro  and
Helen Michel
Payson Sheets
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309
Kenneth Hirth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40506
Fred Lange
Affiliation:
University of Colorado Museum, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309
Fred Stross
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley CA 94720
Frank Asaro
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley CA 94720
Helen Michel
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley CA 94720
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Abstract

Obsidian sources, and the proportions of those sources represented in site collections, are known poorly in the southeast mesoamerican periphery. The Honduran sources of La Esperanza and Güinope are described and “fingerprinted” chemically, and their utilization is explored in selected sites in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Although prehistoric Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans used obsidian from sources as far away as Honduras and Guatemala, most of their cutting tools were made from local materials, using informal manufacturing techniques. The analytical results indicate two sources of new types of obsidian have yet to be found; they may lie in western Nicaragua.

Résumé

Résumé

Losfuentes naturales de obsidiana, y como ellos estan representados en colecciónes de sitios arqueólogicos, no son bien conocidos al suroeste de Mesoamerica. Datos descriptivos y quimicos de los fuentes hondureños La Esperanza y Güinope son presentados. Tambien, la llegada y uso de la obsidiana de estos fuentes en sitios arqueológicos en Honduras, Nicaragua, y Costa Rica son considerados. Aunque los indios prehistóricos de Nicaragua y Costa Rica usaron obsidiana de Honduras y Guatemala, de fuentes a larga distancia, hicieron la mayoria de sus artefactos para cortar de materiales locales, con un técnico no complicado. Los datos indican que por lo menos hay dos tipos de obsidiana en la zona con fuentes todavía desconocidos; tal \ez queden en el oeste de Nicaragua.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 144 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1990

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References

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