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Exchange Implications of Obsidian Source Analysis from the Lower Rio Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Arthur A. Joyce ,
J. Michael Elam ,
Michael D. Glascock ,
Hector Neff  and
Marcus Winter
Arthur A. Joyce
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Box 6050-B, Nashville, TN 37235
J. Michael Elam
Affiliation:
Research Reactor Facility, University of Missouri-Columbia, Research Park, Columbia, MO 65211
Michael D. Glascock
Affiliation:
Research Reactor Facility, University of Missouri-Columbia, Research Park, Columbia, MO 65211
Hector Neff
Affiliation:
Research Reactor Facility, University of Missouri-Columbia, Research Park, Columbia, MO 65211
Marcus Winter
Affiliation:
Centro Regional de Oaxaca, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Pino Suarez 715, 68000 Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
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Abstract

This article considers the results of instrumental neutron-activation analyses of 61 obsidian artifacts recovered from excavations at four archaeological sites in the lower Río Verde valley on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Determinations of source locations of these artifacts permit the examination of changes in obsidian exchange patterns spanning the late Middle Formative to the Classic period. The results show that through most of this period the importation of obsidian into the lower Verde region was dominated by sources in the Basin of Mexico and Michoacan. The data allow us to evaluate previous models of interregional relations during the Formative and Classic periods, including interaction with the highland centers of Monte Albán and Teotihuacán.

Este artículo considera los resultados de análisises instrumentales de activación neutrónica de 61 artefactos de obsidiana recuperados de excavaciones en cuatro sitios arqueológicos del valle inferior del Río Verde en la costa Pacífica de Oaxaca, México. Determinaciones de fuente de estos artefactos permiten la examinación de cambios en los patrones de intercambio de obsidiana desde el Formativo al período Clásico. Los resultados muestran que durante mucho de este período la importación de obsidiana al valle inferior del Río Verde fue dominada por yacimientos en la cuenca de México y Michoacan. Los datos nos permiten evaluar previos modelos de relaciones interregionales durante los períodos Formativo y Clásico, inclusa interacción con los centros de Monte Albán y Teotihuacán.

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Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 3 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1995

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