Terminal Classic to Early Contact Period Obsidian in the Petén Lakes Region: Inter- and Intra-Site Variation of Raw Materials

Summary

Recently, obsidian studies in the Maya area have benefited from the instrumental sourcing of large samples to reconstruct political and domestic economies. This paper summarizes results of the largest portable x-ray florescence (PXRF) source attribution study of obsidian in the Petén lakes region from the sites of Tayasal and Nixtun-Ch'ich'. Cluster analysis of the chemical profiles of 1,123 obsidian specimens suggests that two sites had varying strategies of procurement that emphasized participation with Ixtepeque, El Chayal, and San Martin Jilotepeque exchange networks. Inter- and intra-site diachronic analysis of obsidian procurement patterns represents changes through time from the Terminal Classic to the early Contact period (A.D. 900 - 1697). The large sample size of this study permits a more refined understanding of obsidian acquisition in from individual residences. Results are compared to previously published data from the surrounding sites of Nojpeten, Quexil, San Jeronimo II, Ixlú, and Zacpetén to further understand social changes in the subregion, and reveals the entangled economic relations among political groups.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Preclassic to Colonial: Current Investigations in the Petén Lakes Region, Guatemala

Keywords

Spatial Coverage