The Ceramics and Chronology of the Ucareo-Zinapécuaro Obsidian Source Area, Michoacán, Mexico

Summary

Sourcing studies conducted over the past 45 years have identified obsidian from the outcrops around Ucareo and Zinapécuaro, Michoacán in archaeological sites located across Mesoamerica including San Lorenzo, Xochicalco, Tula, Chichén Itzá, and Tzintzuntzan. Archaeological investigations including survey and excavation conducted by Tulane University during the 1990s have provided the first detailed information on prehispanic settlement and obsidian exploitation within what is now called the Ucareo Zinapécuaro obsidian source area (Healan 1997, 1998; Hernández 2006). In this presentation, we formally introduce the regional ceramic sequence and chronology established for the source area and adjacent northeastern Michoacán. While based on the sequence and chronology published by Gorenstein (1985) for neighboring Acámbaro, Guanajuato, our investigations have produced a considerably refined and expanded sequence made possible by a much larger data set and chronometric dating of 30 radiocarbon samples. The result is a ceramic and cultural chronology that encompasses nearly 2,000 years of dynamic prehispanic occupation, obsidian exploitation, and long distance exchange.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20675