Obsidian Sources Research Articles

Zinapécuaro, Michoacán, Méxican Obsidian Artifacts at Piedras Marcadas Pueblo’s Sixteenth Century Battlefield (LA 290), Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

Direct evidence of the presence of the Mexican indigenous soldiers that accompanied the Coronado entrada into what is now the United States has remained invisible. Dolan and Shackley's recent examination of the presence of four obsidian blades produced from obsidian sources in the Sierra de Pachuca in Hidalgo state of Mexico, was the first intensive examination of artifacts that could directly signal the presence of Mexican indigenous soldiers north of Mexico, although only two had adequate provenience. Since then, three obsidian artifacts, produced from the Zinapécuaro obsidian source from Michoacán state of México were recovered and determined to be from that source by XRF at Piedras Marcadas Pueblo in the Middle Rio Grande valley in Albuquerque, New Mexico, besieged by Coronado and his soldiers in the winter of AD 1540–1541. This is the best direct evidence of artifacts transported by the “indios amigos” to the Middle Rio Grande valley.

‘Our Work Will Continue’: Geochemical Sourcing by XRF of Obsidian in the Collections of Helen Greene Blumenschein

Analysis of artifacts collected by the late Helen G. Blumenschein (HGB) provides a region-wide database for obsidian use between the Middle – Late Archaic and the Talpa phase in the Taos area of northern New Mexico, approximately 3000 B.C.E. to 1300 C.E. Using GIS to associate these artifacts with site locations from HGB’s records and the current site files maintained by the State of New Mexico allows us to verify locations of HGB’s work and to associate these artifacts with documented archaeological sites. However, many of HGB’s collection localities are not presently recorded in official site records, meaning that a significant amount of data can still be recovered from these 50+ year old documents. Results of our obsidian sourcing suggest that El Rechuelos obsidian accounts for nearly two-thirds of obsidian use between the Archaic and the Talpa phase, indicating a consistent lithic-source preference by Taos-area residents over several millennia.

Obsidian projectile point conveyance patterns in the lower Humboldt Valley, Nevada

Despite their ubiquity, surface occurrences of obsidian artifacts at archaeological sites throughout western North America have traditionally been viewed as unworthy of serious attention because of the difficulty in dating them. In the past 40 years, the time sensitivity of certain Great Basin projectile point types has been established, which brings the importance of surface collections more center stage. With the coming of age and refinement of geochemical methods, obsidian artifacts from these surface sites can now be analyzed using nondestructive instrumental methods and matched to their geological eruptive origin on the basis of congruence in trace and rare earth element chemistry. Many of these surface assemblages in the Great Basin contain considerable numbers of obsidian projectile points that, when matched to their chemical source of origin, open up entirely new ways to investigate change and continuity in past land use and social relations. The present study was conducted in the lower Humboldt Valley of western Nevada, where large numbers of obsidian projectile points have been collected by professional archaeologists over the past century and housed in academic institutions and museums. In this study, more than 900 obsidian projectile points and bifaces were analyzed from 24 sites and localities within the lower Humboldt Valley using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) to bring data to bear on the question of whether changes in obsidian source use occurred there over the past 5000 years (as determined by time-sensitive projectile points). Significant changes were identified in the direction and distance-to-source of arrow points vs. dart points, and in the source and direction of Humboldt series points and of Humboldt Basal-notched bifaces, which implicate directional shifts through time in social relations among peoples using—and during some periods living at sites in—the lower Humboldt Valley. These results provide independent data to evaluate current views about land use, artifact conveyance, social relations, and technological change in the western Great Basin and beyond.

Economic Integration and Obsidian Consumption in the Late Postclassic Period K'iche’ Region

AbstractAlthough much research has been conducted on the Late Postclassic period Maya, there has been relatively less study of the role of economic activities in political management during this period. Many such studies focused on obsidian analysis and technology as proxies for trade and exchange. This article builds on that research, using a legacy collection of obsidian implements collected during archaeological surveys in the 1970s to examine Late Postclassic period (AD 1200–1524) economic networks in the K'iche’ region. Obsidian collections from the site of Q'umarkaj and the surrounding region were examined through technological and geochemical analyses. I find that during the Late Postclassic period, K'iche’ elites had more access to nonlocal obsidian sources than did non-elites, but that access to locally available sources was managed through independent and diverse acquisition networks. Thus, the K'iche’ elite were not dependent on local economies as a main source of political power.

P-XRF compositional analysis of obsidian from the Middle Moquegua Valley, Peru: Interaction on the Tiwanaku and Wari frontier

Provenance studies of exotic materials along the frontiers of expansionary states provide invaluable evidence of cultural interactions and systems of exchange. Here we present portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) data on obsidian artifacts from the Middle Moquegua Valley of southern Peru. This region is the only known shared border where colonists of both the Tiwanaku and Wari states settled during the Andean Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000). A total of 50 obsidian artifacts housed in the Museo Contisuyu in Moquegua, Peru was analyzed from ten archaeological sites affiliated with Tiwanaku, Wari, and indigenous Huaracane groups across Formative Period and Middle Horizon contexts. The paucity of obsidian recovered from Tiwanaku sites in Moquegua highlights different lithic traditions, material preferences, and access to obsidian sources compared to their Wari counterparts in the valley. Although Tiwanaku settler groups maintained strong social identities tied to their homeland region, pXRF results show that obsidian was one of the few materials that crossed cultural boundaries in Moquegua. We assess how obsidian provenance can be used as a proxy for cross-cultural interaction in borderland regions and to reconstruct economic systems related to state provisioning versus bottom-up processes of regional exchange.

Use of the Little-Known Local Obsidian Source of Ojo Zarco at La Magdalena in Guanajuato, Mexico

Excavations conducted by Beloit College in 1958 and 1960 identified the site of La Magdalena in the Bajío of Mexico. Investigators have since highlighted three primary phases of occupation at La Magdalena, two of which were proposed to have been culturally influenced by Teotihuacan or Tula. Modern research in the Bajío mostly diverges from those postulations of distant connections, supplanting them with local patterns that hold much more explanatory power. Archaeometric studies are pivotal in this regard but have thus far been infrequently used. This research analyzes the obsidian assemblage from La Magdalena and finds a nearly ubiquitous utilization of a local obsidian source known as Ojo Zarco. These findings merit a reevaluation of obsidian in the eastern Bajío and argue for more archaeometric studies that elucidate local procurement patterns.

Geological and geochemical characterization of the Kelbadjar (Kechaldag) obsidian source in Azerbaijan, Lesser Caucasus

In this paper, the geological and geochemical characterizations of the Kechaldag (a.k.a. Kelbadzhar and Kelbadjar) obsidian source in southwestern Azerbaijan are presented. Samples were collected from primary outcrops, and analyzed by XRF at the University of Missouri Research Reactor. The contents of 12 elements were measured. This allowed us to obtain for the first time a comprehensive geochemical signature of the Kechaldag obsidian source that was less known previously. On the Rb. vs. Sr bivariate plot, Kechaldag is clearly separated from the neighboring Syunik group and other sources of the Lesser Caucasus. The data generated by us can be used for in-depth study of obsidian exploitation in the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age of the Lesser Caucasus and neighboring regions.

Dynamics of obsidian procurement at Pot Creek Pueblo (LA 260), Northern New Mexico.

We present obsidian sourcing data from Pot Creek Pueblo (LA 260), one of the northernmost Puebloan settlements in the Northern Rio Grande, occupied from at least 1260 ce until ca. 1320 ce when much of the pueblo was burned and the site was depopulated. Although the occupation of Pot Creek Pueblo was short, it occurred during a pivotal period in the Northern Rio Grande. The population of the region increased rapidly at this time, possibly due to an influx of migrants from the Mesa Verde/San Juan area to the west, and locally people living in relatively small villages comprised of pithouses and above-ground unit pueblos begin to coalesce into fewer, but much larger above-ground pueblos. Obsidian-source choices throughout the region may provide insight into how the proposed migration impacted existing resource-procurement patterns. Our data demonstrate that despite the diverse histories of the settlement’s inhabitants, the exchange system supplying obsidian to Pot Creek Pueblo remained stable throughout its occupation. We argue that exchange dynamics of the local community remained the primary means of obtaining obsidian despite potential for new avenues that might have been available through the addition of new community members from outside the region and despite population growth and changing settlement patterns in the broader Northern Rio Grande. Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-022-01590-7.

The Paleolithic archaeology of Shirak Province and the open-air site of Aghvorik

Shirak Province in the Republic of Armenia is very rich in Paleolithic sites. Since the first discovery of Paleolithic artifacts in the 1930s, chance finds and field investigations by numerous scholars and archaeological expeditions have brought to light several new localities and findspots, among which the open-air site complex at Aghvorik is currently the most prominent. The Paleolithic sites of Shirak are geomorphologically associated with the Ashotsk Plateau in the north, the Shirak Depression and northwestern slopes of Mt. Aragats in the south, and the Akhuryan River gorge in the west. These areas contain several sources of high-quality lithic raw materials, including dacite, obsidian, and flint. The geomorphic and topographic locations of Paleolithic sites relate to phases of Plio-Pleistocene volcanism, glaciations in high elevation uplands, and the lacustrine and alluvial dynamics that formed the paleorelief and paleoenvironment. Lithic artifact assemblages generally present techno-typological characteristics consistent with early and late phases of the Acheulian, as observed at Lower Paleolithic sites in the Armenian Highlands and Southern Caucasus. While currently fewer in number than Lower Paleolithic finds, Middle Paleolithic artifacts obtained from sites in Shirak tend to be better preserved and made mainly of obsidian, while some dacite artifacts have also been documented. Shirak is also rich in paleontological, or zooarchaeological sites that have yielded a range of Pleistocene macro- and micro-faunal remains. While the Paleolithic archaeological, biostratigraphic, and geological records of Shirak have not yet been subject to systematic documentation and synthesis, the area holds great potential for future research to enlarge and complement the database of Pleistocene human occupation and environment in the broader region.

Book Review: Prehistoric Quarries and Terranes: The Modena and Tempiute Obsidian Sources of the American Great Basin by Michael J. Shott

Book Review: <i>Prehistoric Quarries and Terranes: The Modena and Tempiute Obsidian Sources of the American Great Basin</i> by Michael J. Shott

New perspectives on an “old” technique: Lipari obsidian and Neolithic communities investigated by Fission Track Dating

Abstract “Lipari obsidian and Neolithic human communities in the Aeolian islands” is a project aimed at studying the connection between obsidian flows on the island of Lipari and Neolithic populations on the Aeolian archipelago, in Italy. As it is well known, obsidian is of particular interest to trace prehistorical trading patterns; indeed, Lipari obsidian has the widest distribution and has been found in southern France, Dalmazia, Sicily and mainland Italy. The project outputs will give a general vision of both archaeological and volcanological aspects through the stratigraphic and radiometric dating of eruptions which produced obsidian, in relationship with the first phases of the human settlements and row material exploitation. To reach this goal, we are considering both raw materials (geological samples) from different flows and artefacts from Neolithic settlements (archaeological samples) on the Aeolian islands, and performing fission-track dating to get the age of obsidian sources and artefacts. Obtained results are expected to shed some new light on the raw material procurement and on the ability of the Neolithic populations to move from their locations, with particular attention to the consequences of environmental features on the first human settlements on the Aeolian islands.

Obsidian source classification and defining “local” in early Holocene Southeast Alaska

AbstractDespite the ubiquity of obsidian in early Holocene archaeological assemblages across Southeast Alaska, artifact sourcing using bi‐plots and Principal Component Analysis has been hampered by the highly correlated geochemistry of two major sources: local Aguada Cove on Suemez Island, and distant Mount Edziza, in the Coast Mountain range. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS‐DA) models constructed with device‐specific portable X‐ray fluorescence (pXRF) source catalogs benefit from the precision of individual pXRF machines and the ability of PLS‐DA to handle highly correlated data sets to provide a source classification system that complements existing methods. Of the known obsidian sources in or near Southeast Alaska, four are identified in early Holocene archaeological assemblages: Obsidian Cove and Aguada Cove on Suemez Island, Mount Edziza in the Coast Mountain Range, and a newly identified source on Zim Creek, Kupreanof Island. A comprehensive reanalysis of early Holocene microblade cores (101 cores from 13 archaeological sites) across Southeast Alaska confirms the presence of exotic obsidian from Mount Edziza in one of the oldest sites, alongside possible evidence of landscape learning: testing of the obsidian source on Kupreanof Island. The dominance of the Obsidian Cove source for microblade core production supports hypotheses framing Northwest Coast microblade core morphology as an adaptation to the small nodules of raw material available at the source. A simple distance‐decay model indicates no relationship between core reduction intensity and distance from the source, suggesting high forager mobility characterized by regular trips to Suemez Island (a voyage of up to 380 km) throughout the early Holocene.

STONE TOOL FUNCTIONS, HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES, AND FORMATIVE LITHIC ECONOMIES IN NORTHERN TLAXCALA, MEXICO

AbstractHigh-magnification use-wear analyses create datasets that enable microeconomic studies of lithic consumption and household activities that complement macroeconomic studies of lithic production and exchange to collectively improve our reconstructions of ancient economies. In recent decades, compositional and technological analyses have revealed how certain obsidian sources and lithic technologies were exploited, produced, and exchanged in Mexico's central highlands region during the Formative period (1500b.c.–a.d.100). This article presents use-wear analyses of 275 lithic artifacts from four sites in northern Tlaxcala—Amomoloc (900–650b.c.), Tetel (750–500b.c.), Las Mesitas (600–500b.c.), and La Laguna (600–400b.c.and 100b.c.–a.d.150)—to compare household activities with lithic technologies and evaluate their roles in regional economies. Blades were used for subsistence and domestic crafting; maguey fiber extraction for textile production increased over time, especially in non-elite households. The preparation and consumption of meat acquired by hunting and other methods increased slightly over time, and bipolar tools were used as kitchen utensils. Bloodletting was practiced with two variations of late-series pressure blades, but these and other tools were neither exchanged as nor used to craft prestige goods, often viewed as driving forces of Formative economies in Mesoamerica.

New insights into the Mesolithic use of Melos obsidian in Anatolia: a pXRF analysis from the Bozburun Peninsula (southwest Turkey)

Bozburun Peninsula, at the easternmost intersection of the Aegean and the Mediterranean Seas, yielded evidence from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Neolithic/Chalcolithic periods as a result of recent archaeological surveys. A significant number of the chipped stone artefacts discovered here are of obsidian, a raw material not native to the peninsula and one that ultimately must have been brought in from outside. All of the obsidian artefacts recovered from the Bozburun Peninsula were analysed using a portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer to identify their geological provenance. Our results indicate the presence of four distinct obsidian sources in Bozburun: Melos (Cyclades) with its two separate outcrops, Giali A (Dodecanese), and Göllüdağ East (Cappadocia). The variety of sources represented in the peninsula and the long distances involved attest to the prehistoric connectivity in a region well suited to the movement of people and materials between the Aegean archipelago and the Anatolian mainland. Some of the geometric microliths, which were previously assigned to the final part of the Pleistocene and the earlier stages of the Holocene based on typological criteria, were determined to be coming from the island of Melos. If the typological assessment holds, this occurrence in the Bozburun Peninsula may mark the earliest occurrence of Melos obsidian in Anatolia, long before it was widely distributed in the Neolithic period.

Obsidian conveyance among hunter-gatherers in northwestern Patagonia

In this paper we explore obsidian conveyance in the Diamante Valley, in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Obsidian is the third most-common toolstone used in the Diamante Valley after basalts and local cryptocrystallines. Obsidian artifacts are predominantly projectile points and bifaces, with few cores and early-stage reduction debris. To explain these patterns, we conducted XRF sourcing and technological analysis of 177 obsidian artifacts collected there. We also conducted a GIS-based least cost path analysis to assess the costs of conveying obsidian from sources to sites in the Diamante watershed. We found that hunter-gatherers used Las Cargas as the principal obsidian source, followed by Maule 1 and 2, El Peceño, and Coche Quemado. The nearest source, Laguna del Diamante, was the least used. These data, combined with an analysis of the ways cores, formed tools, and debitage types were conveyed and ultimately deposited at sites in the Diamante watershed, suggest a late Holocene pattern of highland-oriented indirect access, implying highland village sites likely served as nodes in a regional and extraregional exchange network focused not only on obsidian but also on other goods, information, and social obligations.

Comprehensive mapping and compositional analysis of the Alca obsidian source, Peru

The Alca obsidian source in southern Peru is one of the largest and most geochemically complex sources of volcanic glass in South America. Hunter-gatherers first discovered and used Alca obsidian for stone tools at the end of the Pleistocene. Alca later became one of the three most economically important and widely distributed sources of obsidian in the Central Andean region. Systematic mapping and geochemical characterization efforts spanning 20+ years have revealed an extensive high-elevation source region composed of six geographically and compositionally distinct sub-sources. Here we synthesize research documenting the 2000 km2 spatial extent of the Alca obsidian source, and we present expanded geochemical datasets for six Alca sub-sources (n = 238 geologic samples) obtained using neutron activation analysis (NAA), laboratory x-ray fluorescence (XRF), and portable (p)XRF. Results for Alca and for six other obsidian sources in the Peruvian Andes illustrate the efficacy of these techniques to discriminate Peruvian obsidian sources, including Alca sub-sources. Comprehensive compositional data from the Alca source area, examined against accumulating obsidian artifact datasets from throughout Peru, reveal past human use of various Alca sub-sources. These cases contribute fine-grained behavioral information, made possible by a complex obsidian source with geographically patterned geochemical variation and a >12,000-year sequence of human interaction with this geologic resource.

Historique des études sur le paléolithique de l’Archipel du Japon

Paleolithic studies on the Japanese Archipelago started from the excavation of the Iwajuku Site in 1949. In 2000, research efforts were damaged by a forgery incident, which was concerned with the Lower/Middle Paleolithic period. After completing the investigation on the incident, the presence of the Lower/Middle Paleolithic remains unsolved. However, we have entered a new stage of research on the Upper Paleolithic for which over ten thousand sites were discovered. The new research framework places, at the heart, tephra-based lithic chronology, site structure analysis that investigates a site's formation process through conjoined pieces and parent rock analysis, and obsidian archaeology in which diachronic research is conducted on obsidian source exploitation and circulation range. Now unique characteristics of Japanese Paleolithic culture are coming to light, beginning with the migration from the neighboring continent, connecting East Asia through the Paleolithic Cultural Corridor around the Sea of Japan and the Obsidian Road, and nurturing the unique traditions of lithic production.

A New Aceramic Neolithic Site Nearby the Obsidian Sources: Preliminary Insights from Sırçalıtepe

This paper is a general assessment of the studies conducted in 2019 and 2020 at the site of Sırçalıtepe. The settlement, which is dated to the 8th mill BCE, is located in the Volcanic Cappadocia region, within the borders of the Kayırlı village in the province of Niğde. With its location, it can be characterised as the nearest site to the Göllüdağ and Nenezi Dağ obsidian sources in the region. The excavations at Sırçalıtepe were carried out in two different areas of the mound. One trench is the slope trench with documented architectural remains and finds related to daily life, and the other trench is from the top of the mound where obsidian knapping debris is present in proportions commonly seen in workshop areas. The architectural remains discovered in the slope trench involve mudbrick walls, lime plastered floors, and large ovens. However, the investigated area from the top trench with abundant cores and knapping debris reveals the difference between Sırçalıtepe and other contemporaneous sites in the region. Thus, it can be argued that Sırçalıtepe, especially with its obsidian artefacts, has the potential for revealing the relationship between the workshop and the site. Portable XRF analyses performed on a group of obsidian artefacts showed that the settlement inhabitants used Göllüdağ, Nenezi Dağ, and Acıgöl obsidian sources.

Population Dynamics and Human Strategies in Northwestern Patagonia

In this paper we evaluate the role of human strategies in the Andean Piedmont from northern Patagonia across the Holocene. Specifically, we present the analysis of the Early Holocene-Late Holocene archaeological record of Salamanca cave (Mendoza-Argentina). We identified technological changes that occurred during the Late Holocene and the implications of a human occupation hiatus in the Middle Holocene. We follow a multiproxy approach by the analysis of radiocarbon dates, archaeofaunal remains, ceramic, lithics and XRF obsidian sourcing. We also discuss a detailed stratigraphic sequence by geomorphological descriptions, the construction of a radiocarbon sequence model and summed probability distributions, compared with other archaeological sites in the region. We conclude that after the Middle Holocene archaeological hiatus, human populations grew while guanaco populations dropped. The imbalance between demography and resources boosted the incorporation of new technologies such as ceramics and the bow and arrow, allowing people to exploit lower-ranked resources.

Long-distance contacts and social networks of the Upper Palaeolithic humans in the North-Western Caucasus (on data from Mezmaiskaya Cave, Russia)

The article is addressed to the issue of long-distance contacts and social networks between the Upper Palaeolithic of the North-western Caucasus and other regions, basing on finds (artifacts from mammoth tusk, azurite sandstone pebble, Black Sea marine mollusc shells, and obsidian artifacts) from the Upper Palaeolithic layers at Mezmaiskaya Cave. Personal decorations from mammoth tusk found at Mezmaiskaya suggest rare contacts between culture-unrelated Upper Palaeolithic groups in the North-western Caucasus and Russian plain. Recurrent obsidian procurement from two specific remote obsidian sources at Mezmaiskaya suggests that there were two well-established social networks between Upper Palaeolithic humans in the North-western Caucasus and related human groups in the North-central and South Caucasus. The evidence of obsidian transport from Mezmaiskaya outlines borders of the Upper Palaeolithic cultural area with similar human population and culture in the Caucasus, within wich the Upper Palaeolithic groups in the North and South Caucasus had regular social-cultural relations, including exchange of obsidian raw material. Finds of Black Sea marine shells and an azurite sandstone pebble at Mezmaiskaya are discussed as non-utilitarian objects derived from remote areas located on the paths of the two obsidian exchange networks that likely outline directions and limits of direct movements of Upper Palaeolithic humans from the North-western Caucasus.