The Production and Exchange of Obsidian in the Monumental Zone of Tenam Puente, Chiapas, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Dynamic Frontiers in the Archaeology of Chiapas" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents an analysis of obsidian artifacts from the ancient Maya city of Tenam Puente. The site is located in the eastern Chiapas highlands, and was occupied from approximately AD 500 to 1100. We analyze a sample of 859 obsidian artifacts from the site’s monumental zone, which were excavated by the Proyecto Tenam Puente, directed by Gabriel Laló Jacinto. The associated contexts include all three of the site’s ballcourts, as well as the royal palace courtyard, a religious plaza, a possible crafts barrio, and a small outlying residential area. While third-series prismatic blades are the most common artifact, the sample also contains debitage from local blade production, as well as the recycling of broken formal bifaces, suggesting the presence of highly skilled craftspeople. We analyzed 791 of the artifacts using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and the results were compared to known volcanic sources in Mesoamerica. While most obsidian at Tenam Puente was imported from El Chayal, a significant portion was also obtained from other sources, including relatively high proportions of obsidian from Pachuca and Zaragoza sources in Central Mexico. This is consistent with previous suggestions that Tenam Puente was an important node for long-distance exchange in the eastern Chiapas highlands.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Dynamic Frontiers in the Archaeology of Chiapas   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36142.0