Sclerochemistry in Northwest Mexico: Evaluating Marine Shell Conveyance through Stable Isotope Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents an updated interpretation of marine shell exchange in the NW/SW. Isotopic analyses of marine shell can yield novel insights into regional trade networks. Our paper reviews C and O assays from archaeological assemblages in the NW/SW. These results demonstrate that the northern stretches of the Sea of Cortez are significant procurement locations for late precolonial communities, which counters previous macro-regional models of conveyance. Recent and ongoing research now focuses on assessing the viability of exchange corridors through the Sierra Madre Occidental. These efforts highlight the need to incorporate regional political and ritual economies, the need for greater sampling of archaeological assemblages, and the expansion of baseline isotopic profiles in the Sea of Cortez.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36392.0