Source Analysis of Obsidian from the Late Olmec Site of Los Soldados

Summary

Recent compositional analyses of obsidian from Formative Period Mesoamerican sites have been used to trace obsidian to a number of Highland Mexican and Guatemalan sources, and documented shifts in sources through time. In this presentation, we report the results of a study that analyzed 401 obsidian samples excavated from the Middle/Late Formative period habitation site of Los Soldados, located 11 km from the Olmec capital of La Venta. Using three high precision techniques (LA-ICP-MS, XRF, and pXRF) we attempt a reconstruction of obsidian procurement and long-distant trade at Middle Formative/Epi-Olmec Los Soldados. Specifically, 102 small obsidian chips (ave. 1-2 sq cm) were analyzed at IIRMES using LA-ICP-MS and pXRF, and another 299 larger obsidian chips (ave. 2-5 sq cm) were analyzed at MURR using XRF. Results show that the inhabitants of Los Soldados utilized obsidian from both Highland Mexican and Highland Guatemalan outcrops. In addition, results indicate that these three techniques produce comparable results. Finally, our results demonstrate that obsidian color is not a reliable indicator of procurement source, and we argue that color should not be used to infer source.

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): 21827