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

Author(s): Yuko Shiratori; Nathan Meissner; Timothy Pugh

Year: 2016

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.

Cite this Record

Terminal Classic to Early Contact Period Obsidian in the Petén Lakes Region: Inter- and Intra-Site Variation of Raw Materials. Yuko Shiratori, Nathan Meissner, Timothy Pugh. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 404151)

Keywords

General
Maya Obsidian pXRF

Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 12.383 ; max long: -86.353; max lat: 23.08 ;