Obsidian Blades From Cerro Portezuelo

Sourcing Artifacts From a Long-Duration Site

Bibliographic Data

ID6034027
AuthorsWilliam J Parry (Hunter College, corresponding author), Michael D Glascock (0000-0003-0686-7556, University of Missouri)
Year2013
Volume24
Issue1
Pages177-184
Publication date2013-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAncient Mesoamerica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-5361 • E-ISSN: 1469-1787
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0956536113000096
OpenAlexW2127085797
LanguagePT
Citations received7
References cited16

This paper reports source identifications for a sample of obsidian prismatic blades from the site of Cerro Portezuelo, Mexico. Although the sample is highly biased and stratigraphically mixed, some interesting results were obtained. Compared to contemporary sites in the region, the frequency of green Pachuca obsidian was unusually low (65%), while obsidian from the distant Ucareo source was unusually abundant (14%). This pattern appears to hold for both the Classic and the Postclassic periods and differs from Classic Teotihuacan. This contrast implies that Cerro Portezuelo was not importing all of its obsidian directly from Teotihuacan during the Classic period but, rather, was obtaining some quantity of Ucareo obsidian from other sites, most likely located to the west. This trade pattern would eventually spread throughout the Basin of Mexico, after the fall of Teotihuacan, but it is foreshadowed during the Classic period at Cerro Portezuelo

Archaeology · Art · Geography · Structural basin · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Latin American history and culture · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology

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