Chert Biface Use and Associations with the Middle Postclassic Settlements of Sauce, Veracruz, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Understanding the Mexican Gulf Coast Postclassic" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Chipped stone bifaces and projectile points are found within south-central Veracruz for multiple eras, but the rarer chert bifaces are significantly associated with Postclassic era settlement from the Sauce Archaeological Project and Proyecto Arqueologíco La Mixtequilla. I analyze residential inventories from the center of Sauce and its hinterland to describe the structure of exchange and the potential context of chert biface use during the Middle Postclassic period (AD 1200-1350) in south-central Veracruz, Mexico. No production-related evidence has been identified; just finished bifaces and projectile points. There are slightly greater quantities of chert artifacts associated with the Sauce center and mounds nearby. However, chert artifacts are found within all of the settlements sampled by the projects, albeit in very low amounts. Results at present do not support the restricted access of chert with elite dwellings. The size and shape of the chert bifaces are consistent with dart points, rather than the smaller arrows of the region’s obsidian points. Chert bifaces appear to be part of a body of evidence, including changes in figurines, food preparation, a new pottery complex, and settlement patterns that identify Sauce as having many materials, activities, or kinds of warfare new to the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Understanding the Mexican Gulf Coast Postclassic

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50421