The Chipped Stone Industry of Cihuatan and Santa Maria, El Salvador, and Sources of Obsidian from Cihuatan

Abstract

The chipped stone industry of Cihuatan and Santa Maria, Postclassic sites of north-central El Salvador, is discussed briefly in terms of behavioral/technological typology. The industry was based almost exclusively on obsidian and emphasized specialized production of prismatic blades. Source determinations by X-ray fluorescence and neutron activation analysis of 20 obsidian specimens from Cihuatan indicate that at least three highland Guatemalan sources supplied obsidian to the site. Twelve specimens are attributed to the Ixtepeque source, seven to El Chayal, and one to San Martín Jilotepeque. The multiple-source procurement pattern is interpreted as a hedge against the fragility of Postclassic sociopolitical alliances and shifting exchange networks.

Quest for ancient routes: obsidian sourcing research in Northwestern Argentina

“…Although, Cueros de Purulla have an important spatial distribution, it only supplied obsidian to sites located in the Puna of Catamarca (#5, 7,8,19,20,21,22,27) (Fig. 6).…”

“…Obsidian raw materials and finished products were valuable commodities that were often exchanged through networks that distributed them across distant areas from their sources. Obsidian played a significant role in this matter [12,19]: (1) obsidian artefacts are well preserved in most archaeological contexts; (2) the number of sources are limited and in most cases they are compositionally homogeneous; (3) intersource composition is different; and (4) it is possible to link artifacts with great certainty to individual sources, and hence sites and regions, through chemical analysis [31].…”

The Coso volcanic field reexamined: Implications for obsidian sourcing and hydration dating research

“…Ellipses of this sort are particularly robust for archaeological purposes because the measurement "scatter" (resulting primarily from sample-specific reflection geometry and size variations [cf. Fowler et al, 1987: 156-1571) determined on unmodified ke., non-powdered) source samples provides an appropriate analog for the amount of measurement variation to be anticipated from analyses of non-powdered artifact samples. Statistical pattern recognition techniques (e.g., clueter analysis, discriminant analysis) are sometimes applied ta ascribe unknowns (obsidian artifactel to known groups (parent obsidian sources), but such techniques were not employed in the present case because Coso glasses can be segregated from all others in east-central California and southwestern Nevada on the basis of simple bivariate contrasts.…”

The Obsidian Artifacts of Quelepa, El Salvador

“…At Chalchuapa, El Salvador, IXT obsidian is assumed to constitute virtually the entire assemblage (Sheets 1978). Fowler et al (1987) report the results of XRF analyses of 20 artifacts from Cihuatan, El Salvador. At a confidence level of 95%, then, the Cambio assemblage is at least 86.0% IXT.…”

“…A particularly accurate and fairly economical method is a combination of XRF and abbreviated NAA (e.g., Asaro et al 1978;Fowler et al 1987;Michel et al 1983;Stross et al 1983). and not "how much hafnium and strontium are in this prismatic blade?"…”