Obsidian on the Periphery: Importation, Production, and Raw Material Husbandry in Oaxaca

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study uses data collected during three seasons of survey and excavation to examine evidence for the importation of obsidian and the production of tools, particularly blades, in the periphery of obsidian exchange spheres in the Nejapa/Tavela region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Sourcing information from X-Ray Fluorescence reveals a wide-ranging and shifting utilization of both Mexican and Guatemalan sources. Differences in the assemblages from contemporaneous sites hint at the social and political complexity of the region, which was inhabited by Zapotec, Mixe, and Chontal language speakers in multiethnic communities. Visible manufacturing errors and evidence of recovery techniques suggest that local artisans were capable producers of prismatic blades, demonstrating invaluable skills in a region where obsidian was scarce. The paucity of raw material and artisan skill is attested by relatively low frequencies of obsidian, as well as by deliberate manufacturing techniques designed to maximize the output of blades from each core.