The Obsidian of Postclassic Rio Amarillo: A Shift in Population or Technology?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Pre-Columbian Cultures of Honduras after AD 900" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The rather diminutive site of Rio Amarillo, located to the north of the Copan city center, is well known as a subsidiary site that was somehow involved in the movement of goods between the Motagua and Copan Valleys. After the collapse of the Copan Dynasty, large civic-ceremonial structures were abandoned and the people that remained, or perhaps moved to Rio Amarillo, formed new living areas in defensible hilltop positions. After examining the obsidian from Platform 9 at Site 5, the northern portion of Rio Amarillo, we discovered that there was a difference in technology from the Late Classic sites in the area. There was little evidence of prismatic blade production, but a great increase in bifacial point manufacture. There were also a relatively large number of obsidians imported from Mexican sources, such as Pachuca, Ucareo, and Otumba. We explore the possibility that there may have been a non-Maya group occupying Postclassic Rio Amarillo, as well as the economic impacts of dynastic collapse and diaspora.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Pre-Columbian Cultures of Honduras after AD 900   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25524