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

Abstract

We present data produced through archaeological and geological survey, as well as geochemical analysis of the Zaragoza-Oyameles obsidian source area located on the northern and western flanks of the Los Humeros Caldera in eastern Puebla, Mexico. One result of the intensive archaeological surface survey of this obsidian source area was the identification of 117 obsidian flow-band exposures. Geologic samples from 40 of these were submitted for instrumental neutron activation analysis. Eighty-five projectile points collected from the surface were characterized using portable X-ray fluorescence. These analyses identified three sub-sources: Z-O1, Potreros Caldera, and Gomez Sur. The Gomez Sur sub-source appears chemically similar to the previously identified Altotonga source, located 25 km to the northeast. Results of the geological survey help elucidate the relationship of Altotonga obsidian with the Zaragoza-Oyameles source area. The data from the three sub-sources are compared to all consumer site data attributed to the Zaragoza-Oyameles source in the Missouri University Research Reactor database. Results indicate that the majority of consumer samples throughout Mesoamerica match the Z-O1 sub-source, while 4 percent match the Potreros Caldera sub-source. This information, combined with the Gomez Sur data, is discussed in terms of economic relations with the regional center of Cantona. Obsidian procurement and distribution may have been more nuanced than previously modeled. We suggest that a number of potentially independent communities in addition to Cantona may have been involved in distributing this obsidian throughout Mesoamerica.

Projection-Based Classification of Chemical Groups for Provenance Analysis of Archaeological Materials

“…Although Oyameles group has a higher density, this grouping may well be subdivided into two or three possible subsources. The result is consistent with the analysis performed by reference [77], who identified three sub-sources known as Z-O1, Potreros Caldera and Gomez Sur.…”

Geochemical Variability in the Paredón Obsidian Source, Puebla and Hidalgo, Mexico: A Preliminary Assessment and Inter‐Laboratory Comparison

“…) and Zaragoza‐Oyameles (Knight et al . ). A recent study of geological samples from Paredón suggested spatial variability in its geochemistry (Millhauser et al .…”

The geology, geochemistry, and geographic distribution of southern Idaho obsidian

“…Some source areas host deposits of obsidian with multiple geochemical signatures, reflecting complex histories of eruption and the geochemical evolution of magma chambers between eruptive events (e.g. Ericson & Glascock, 2004;Brown, Reid, & Negash, 2009;Morgan et al, 2009;Poupeau et al, 2010;Glascock, 2011;Argote-Espino et al, 2012;Knight et al, 2017). Obsidian from Glass Buttes in central Oregon, for example, can be assigned to as many as nine geochemical source groups, all found within a 200 km 2 area (Ambroz, Glascock, and Skinner 2001;Frahm 2014;Frahm and Feinberg 2015).…”