Otumba is one of a few Late Aztec-period city-states in the Basin of Mexico whose central city or town is not obscured by post-Conquest occupation. Long-term research there began in the early 1960s, with more recent fieldwork between 1987 and 1989, and has been complemented by intensive laboratory and technical analyses that are still underway. Traditional typological analyses have been aided by neutron activation analyses providing strong evidence of economic linkages between the Otumba city-state and raw material sources, as well as evidence of tribute and market distribution channels for finished products within and outside the Otumba city-state.

Research carried out during the last three decades at the Late Postclassic city-state of Otumba, Mexico, has identified a wide variety of craft-production specializations. Data derived from excavations and surface collections made at the workshop site of one of Otumba's specialties—lapidary jewelry production—have revealed much of the process for the production of such jewelry, including ear spools, lip plugs, and beads, along with some possible secondary products, such as sequins and disks, all primarily made from obsidian. Besides the lapidary products themselves, many of the tools employed in production—made of obsidian, chert, and basalt—were found. The materials recovered enhance and expand upon the information available from colonial documentary sources, providing greater insight into this complicated and intriguing process.

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