The Organization of Obsidian Exchange at Postclassic Sauce and its Hinterland in Veracruz, Mexico

Summary

I analyze residential inventories from the center of Sauce and its hinterland in combination with regional settlement data from Barbara Stark’s Proyecto Arqueológico La Mixtequilla (PALM I, II) to describe the structure of exchange, production, and consumption of obsidian chipped stone during the Middle Postclassic period (AD 1200-1350) in south-central Veracruz, Mexico. Previous research on obsidian production found a spatial association with Sauce, which could support political administration of exchange, or alternatively, identify market exchange nearby. Reliance on spatially based models alone for identifying exchange mechanisms are flawed based on equifinality, in which different forms of exchange result in the same spatial pattern. Local chipped stone artifacts have further complications for interpretation: singular geological source, universal access, and potential specialized activities. No single model will identify all competing influences on residential inventories. To handle this complexity, I use the articulation of production combined with the spatial distribution and contextual information to distinguish between redistribution and market exchange. Results indicate that market exchange was the main mechanism. The largest concentrations of primary production indicators were found near Sauce, along with the highest quantities of blade parts, which suggests that political elites encouraged market exchange even if they did not direct it.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21028