Geosourcing and Geopolitics: Handheld XRF Analysis of Obsidian from Households in the Yaxuna-Coba Region

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This poster presents results of sourcing analysis of artifacts from Classic period Maya sites in Northern Yucatán and Quintana Roo from household contexts using handheld X-ray fluorescence (hXRF). Previous analysis by Danielle Waite sourced artifacts from Coba and Yaxuna from excavations by the Proyecto de Interacción Política del Centro de Yucatán and Proyecto Sacbé Yaxuna-Coba. The current research, conducted by Jessica Clark, sourced 127 artifacts previously omitted due to COVID-19 lab restrictions from eight Classic subsidiary sites in the Yaxuna-Coba region. We show some Classic period households at subsidiary sites accessed highly diverse obsidian from nine distinct sources from Mexico and Guatemala. In the samples analyzed by Waite and Clark, Yaxuna and Ikil were found to have the highest diversity of sources. Analysis by Waite identified more Guatemalan obsidian sources than Mexican sources; this research, however, identified over twice as many artifacts from Mexican sources as from Guatemalan. The site of Ikil was particularly diverse, with eight sources attributed, which could be expected given its relationship with Chichen Itza. The diversity of obsidian sources in household contexts at both large and small sites in the Northern Lowlands demonstrates the complex nature of geopolitics in the region during the Classic period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37266.0