Formative Obsidian Procurement at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico: Implications for Olmec and Epi-Olmec Political Economy

Abstract

We report the results of chemical sourcing of obsidian artifacts from Tres Zapotes using X-ray fluorescence analysis. This is the first obsidian sourcing study for this major Olmec and Epi-Olmec center in which samples are drawn from secure archaeological proveniences specifically assigned to Early, Middle, Late Formative, and Protoclassic periods. We employed a stratified random sampling strategy to select 180 obsidian artifacts from excavated assemblages, supplementing the random sample with another 24 specimens drawn from rare visual categories. Consequently, we are able to characterize changes in the relative importance of different obsidian sources in the political economy of Tres Zapotes across the critical transition from Olmec to Epi-Olmec society with greater confidence than has been possible for the Gulf lowlands while extending our observations to the full sample of 5,713 visually characterized obsidian artifacts—2,695 of which come from the well-dated Formative contexts examined in this article. Our study confirms the absence of obsidian from Otumba and from Guatemalan sources in the excavated Olmec assemblage in favor of sources from eastern Puebla and Veracruz, supporting a model of overlapping autonomous networks for obsidian procurement at Gulf Olmec sites. Presence of the Guatemalan San Martín Jilotepeque source in Epi-Olmec contexts may relate to the reestablishment of trans-Isthmian contacts, while increasing prevalence of Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian from eastern Puebla marks the beginning of a long-term trend. Although more even representation of obsidian sources in Epi-Olmec contexts is consistent with the hypothesized transition from an exclusionary Olmec political economy toward a more “corporate” system associated with power sharing among factional leaders at Tres Zapotes, neither Olmec nor Epi-Olmec elites monopolized a particular obsidian source or technology.

Altica, Coapexco, and the Role of Middlemen in Formative Obsidian Exchange

“…There is no density of obsidian/m 3 excavated for Altica, as this assemblage originated from surface collection. Data from other sites were sourced from Stark et al (2016) and include analyses from Lesure (1999,2011), Lesure and Blake (2002), Pool et al (2014), Rosenswig et al (2014), and Wendt (2003). than 16 times the next highest frequency of obsidian density recorded at Coapexco (17.7 pieces per 100 potsherds).…”

Obsidian Sub-Sources at the Zaragoza-Oyameles Quarry in Puebla, Mexico: Similarities With Altotonga and Their Distribution Throughout Mesoamerica

“…The town of Oyameles de Hidalgo lies in the center of the survey zone. Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian has been recovered from consumer site occupations dating to the Early or Middle Formative period contexts in the southern Gulf Lowlands (Cobean et al 1971; Hirth et al 2013; Pool et al 2014; Santley et al 2001), the Lower Rio Verde Valley of Oaxaca (Joyce et al 1995), the Pacific coast of Guerrero, Mexico (Ebert et al 2014), and the Teotihuacan Valley in central Mexico (Stoner et al 2015:22). The early distribution of Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian parallels the earliest distribution of Altotonga obsidian, which was an important obsidian source in the Early and Middle Formative periods across western Mesoamerica, but especially in the southern Gulf Lowlands (Boksenbaum et al 1987; Cobean et al 1971; Pires-Ferreira 1976).…”

Economy, Exchange, and Power: New Evidence From the Late Classic Maya Port City of Cancuen

“…It has been argued, however, that the latter would be difficult to distinguish from consumption by wealthy consumers (Clark 2003), and such patterns should be compared to data on the organization of the corresponding production. Centralization of certain specific production waste in elite contexts is another element that could indicate either embedded production, elite direct participation in the production process (Inomata 2001), or hierarchized control of production (Pool et al 2014). In all cases, we suggest that the use of a single criterion is probably not enough and that such complex relationships such as power relations of production should be demonstrated by correlating different parameters.…”