Ceramics, Ground Stone and Miscellanea at the Zaragoza-Oyameles Obsidian Quarry in Puebla, Mexico

Summary

One result of the intensive, 5-m interval surface survey of the Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian source area in Puebla, Mexico was the recovery of several artifact classes suggestive of prolonged habitation. Ceramic and ground stone artifacts recovered indicate that domestic activities were an important component of the obsidian procurement and production economy. Ceramics tended to concentrate in areas that also contained higher quantities of ground stone, but did not correlate with any one stage of obsidian reduction. The majority of identifiable ceramic vessels were ollas and cajetes, suggestive of domestic activities. Manos and metates were the most common ground stone artifacts recovered, although molcajetes, axes, and formal, worked hammerstones also were recovered. Manos and metates exhibited considerable variation in size and shape. When these indicators of domestic habitation are correlated to the obsidian surface data, patterns of domestic crafting at different intensities across space can be observed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21227