Obsidian Technologies at the La Magdalena Site in the Eastern Bajio of Guanajuato, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists attribute many possible connections between the Bajío and Basin of Mexico during the Formative through Postclassic periods. Elemental analysis of obsidian from the site of La Magdalena (Q-25) in the eastern Bajío region of Mexico both support and challenge different aspects of these connections. Excavations conducted by Beloit College in 1958 and 1960 highlight three primary phases of occupation at La Magdalena, which all show some degree of cultural influence from Cuicuilco, Teotihuacan, or Tula. Previous studies of obsidian procurement hint at a dynamic landscape highly dependent on sociopolitical relations, where polities and their ascent/descent to and from influence pose major ramifications for obsidian exchange. However, La Magdalena, even at the crossroads of exchange between the Basin and the rest of north-central/western Mexico, maintained a reliance on one local obsidian source known as Ojo Zarco. Evidence of obsidian source use, superimposed on architectural changes and other material evidence, suggest a more discernible independence from influential obsidian networks in the Basin of Mexico than previously thought.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32490