OBSIDIAN PROCUREMENT AMONG THE JUMANOS PUEBLOS, NEW MEXICO, A. D. 1300–1670S

Abstract

In this article, I present (1) the results of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) sourcing analyses and (2) the relative frequencies of archaeological obsidian artifacts from three Late Prehispanic and Early Colonial period (A. D. 1300 to 1670s) Jumanos pueblos in central New Mexico: Gran Quivira, Pueblo Blanco, and Pueblo Colorado. The XRF data suggest that the villages were relatively independent from one another in terms of the nonlocal social and economic relationships through which obsidian was acquired. At the same time, the analysis of the relative frequencies of obsidian suggests that at first the residents of Gran Quivira, and then those of Pueblo Blanco, had greater access to obsidian than the inhabitants of the other two villages. Taken together, the results of these two analyses suggest that seemingly opposing relations of autonomy and differentiation may have characterized the long-distance social and economic activities of the residents of these pueblos and their relationships to each other.