Core and Periphery: Obsidian Craft Production in Late Postclassic (a.d. 1250/1300–1519) Tlaxcallan, Mexico

ABSTRACT

This work present results of an analysis of supply, use, and production of obsidian artifacts in Tepeticpac and Metepec, two settlements of Late Postclassic (a.d. 1250/1300–1519) Tlaxcallan. The first sample (n = 9222) was recovered in two architectural compounds at Tepeticpac, a first-order settlement and part of the Tlaxcallan urban core. Tepeticpac materials exhibit a strong focus on prismatic blade production intended mainly for ceremonial or ritual use. The second sample (n = 14,915) comes from an architectural compound and a nearby obsidian discard area in Metepec, a peripheral second-order site. Metepec artifacts focused on the production of blades and bifacials, with greater evidence of different phases of obsidian processing indicating the presence of a nearby obsidian workshop. Comparison of obsidian craft production from both sites points towards decentralized craft production at Tlaxcallan and an open market economy for obsidian acquisition and consumption but also to marked political and socioeconomic hierarchies within the polity.

KEYWORDS:

• Mesoamerica
• political economy
• lithic industry
• interregional exchange networks
• obsidian sourcing

Acknowledgements

Archaeological work at Tepeticpac and Metepec was authorized and funded by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) Project 30161 (permission letters C.A. 401-36/1222 and 01.B[4]19.2012/36/0916), the Project INFRA-CONACyT 2014-225845, and Project INAH 11852 funds. We appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions from reviewers, Centro INAH Tlaxcala, collaborators of the Tepeticpac Archaeological Project, and the community of Santiago Tepeticpac for their invaluable support.

Disclosure Statement

There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.

Geolocation Information

Tepeticpac: UTM 14Q 579848E, 2139457N. Metepec: UTM 14Q 578027E, 2131079N.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aurelio López Corral

Aurelio López Corral (Ph.D. 2011, Penn State University) is a full-time researcher at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia-Tlaxcala, Mexico and co-director of the Tepeticpac Archaeological Project. His research interests are the political and domestic economy of Classic to Postclassic state level societies (altepemeh) from central Mexico, the development of ancient agricultural systems, the iconography of Classic to Postclassic, and craft production and land tenure systems studies on Postclassic to Early Colonial populations from central Mexico.

A. Gabriel Vicencio Castellanos

A. Gabriel Vicencio Castellanos (M.A. 2019, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) is a doctoral student at Boston University. His research interests center on regional and extra-regional exchange networks in central Mexico, political-economy, obsidian technological analysis, and obsidian sourcing, as well as geochemical approaches to stone quarries.

Ramón Santacruz Cano

Ramón Santacruz Cano (Licenciatura 1997, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico; Ph. D. 2017, Institute of Legal Sciences of Puebla) is a full-time researcher at the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia-Tlaxcala, Mexico and director of the Tizatlán Archaeological Project. His research interests are the study of the Teotihuacan influence over the Tlaxcala region, Late Postclassic political economy in Puebla-Tlaxcala, the conservation of archaeological heritage, pre-Hispanic legislation, and cultural legislation.

Bianca L. Gentil

Bianca L. Gentil (Ph.D. 2020, Penn State University) is currently a fellow with the California Council on Science and Technology, placed in the state of California’s Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and director of the Proyecto Regional de Sitios Secundarios en Puebla-Tlaxcala. Her interests include the political and economic organization of central Mexico from the Late Formative to the Late Postclassic periods, focusing on the role that small communities and rural populations played in regional systems of exchange, and the exchange and geopolitical networks of the Late Postclassic Maya in northwestern Belize.

Armado Arciniega

Armando Arciniega Corona (M.S. 2013, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) is currently a researcher in charge of the Conservation, Diagnosis and Spectroscopic Characterization of Materials Laboratory (CODICE) of the Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (CNCPC) of INAH, Mexico. His interests are the development of noninvasive and nondestructive analytical techniques related to the characterization and conservation of cultural heritage.