New Data on Sources of Obsidian Artifacts from Tikal, Guatemala

Háttula Moholy-Nagy · Fred W. Nelson

36 citations0/0 files storedAncient Mesoamerica

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Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis Mineralogy and Gemology Studies Historical Studies in Central America

Abstract

Abstract In 1984, 29 obsidian artifacts and an unworked nodule from Tikal were attributed to source by visual means and then analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF). We conclude that the considerable within-source optical variability of gray Mesoamerican obsidians makes visual sourcing unreliable at present, although a corpus of descriptions of the optical characteristics of obsidian may eventually provide a way to exclude possible sources. The XRF analysis identified two additional central Mexican sources, bringing to six the number of Mexican obsidian sources represented at Tikal; failed to provide a secure identification for the nodule; supported the succession of Guatemalan obsidian sources utilized by the Southern Lowland Maya previously proposed by Nelson; and suggested other correlations between source, artifact type, and archaeological context.

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References

1945Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala 1989Bureau of standards.1985Summary of the results of analysis of obsidian artifacts from the Maya lowlands 1985Provenience Analysis of Obsidians from the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala

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1998A Systematic Approach to Obsidian Source Characterization 1999Mexican Obsidian at Tikal, Guatemala 2003Source Attribution and the Utilization of Obsidian in the Maya Area 2012TIKAL'S EARLY CLASSIC DOMINATION OF THE GREAT WESTERN TRADE ROUTE: CERAMIC, LITHIC, AND ICONOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE 2007Sources of Imported Obsidian at Postclassic Sites in the Yautepec Valley, Morelos: A Characterization Study Using XRF and INAA 1994The Obsidian Artifacts of Quelepa, El Salvador 1993New world complex societies: Recent economic, social, and political studies 2009The Terminal Formative to Classic Period Obsidian Assemblage at Palo Errado, Veracruz, Mexico

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