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Obsidian Artifacts from San Andres La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico

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Obsidian Artifacts from San Andres La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES OBSIDIAN ARTIFACTS FROM SAN ANDRES LA VENTA, TABASCO, MEXICO by TRAVIS F. DOERING A Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2002 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Travis F. Doering defended on December 12, 2001. ____________________________ Mary E. D. Pohl Professor Directing Thesis ____________________________ Michael K. Faught Committee Member ____________________________ J. Kathryn Josserand Committee Member ____________________________ Rochelle A. Marrinan Committee Member Approved: __________________________________________ Glen H. Doran, Chair, Department of Anthropology This thesis is dedicated to Dr. George A. Llano, friend and scholar. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was made possible through the support, encouragement, and effort of numerous individuals. I would like to thank Dr. Mary Pohl, my committee chair, for her generosity in offering the obsidian collection from San Andrés for analysis and for her assistance throughout my graduate studies at the Florida State University. My appreciation goes to Dr. Michael Faught for helping me keep things in perspective and to Dr. Rochelle Marrinan for her support and guidance both in and out of the field. I would like to thank Dr. J. Kathryn Josserand for her counsel and editing. I am particularly grateful to Dr. John E. Clark of Brigham Young University, for his insight and assistance in this project, and for allowing me to use the facilities of the New World Archaeological Foundation Laboratory in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Additionally, I am grateful for the support and cooperation provided by Dr. Rebecca González Lauck of the Centro Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia Tabasco, and director of the Proyecto Arquelogíco La Venta. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Michael Glascock of the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) for the neutron activation analysis of San Andrés obsidian artifacts. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Kevin Pope and Chris von Nagy of the Early Agriculture on the Gulf Coast Lowlands of Mexico Project, and the iv financial support provided by the project which was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) Archaeology Program Grant BCS-9617389. NSF Grant SBR-9802366 also provided valuable funding assistance for the neutron activation analysis procedures at MURR. Thank you to all who read, edited, and improved this thesis. Finally, it has been a privilege to work and study with my fellow classmates. v ABSTRACT This thesis is an examination of Formative period obsidian artifacts (1400 to 400 cal BC) from San Andrés, a subsidiary site located five kilometers northeast of the major ceremonial center of La Venta in westernmost Tabasco, Mexico. The primary objectives of the analysis were to determine the source and the method of manufacture of each piece in the collection (636 pieces). An examination of use-wear patterns and an evaluation of the relationships of the artifacts to associated cultural material were used to infer the functions of the obsidian specimens. The data produced by the analysis are significant because they provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the social, political, and economic interaction between La Venta, a prominent Middle Formative period urban core, and San Andrés, an agriculturally based site within the polity’s riverine support network. Obsidian is not native to the region, therefore, examination of the acquisition, production, redistribution, and use of this exotic material can offer evidence of societal organization along the southern Gulf Coast during the Formative period. Compositional testing of 32 selected specimens using neutron activation analysis identified nine sources present at San Andrés; the results were extrapolated to the remainder of the collection through macroscopic visual identification. Paredón, in Hidalgo, Mexico, and San Martín xii Jilotepeque, in the Guatemala Highlands, were the dominant sources through four Formative period occupational periods extending from 1400 to 400 cal BC. These two sources demonstrate long term traditions of obsidian acquisition by residents of San Andrés. The modest quantity of obsidian recovered at the site (504.8 grams) reinforces a regional pattern that indicates that relatively small amounts of obsidian were used during the Formative period. A lack of production debitage at San Andrés and the presence of obsidian workshops at La Venta suggest that the importation of the raw material was controlled by elite factions in the La Venta urban center. Prismatic blades appear to have been produced at La Venta and were the standard item distributed to San Andrés, where residents later recycled the limited lithic material and extended its use-life through bipolar reduction. Changes over time in the quantity of obsidian recovered at the site correspond to population fluctuations associated with the rise, reign, and ruin of La Venta as an urban center. The obsidian implements, in combination with artifactual, botanical, and faunal material, indicate a pattern of feasting events associated with elite factions. Additionally, an interpretation of the primary obsidian sources may indicate the existence of two separate trade networks: one connected the La Venta and San Andrés area to the northern Basin of Mexico, by way of El Viejón, Veracruz, and the other linked them to the Upper Grijalva River Basin and Highland Guatemala through the site of San Isidro, Chiapas. Evidence of feasting events and obsidian acquisition procedures provide additional measures of the socioeconomic relationship between La Venta and San Andrés. xiii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables . ix List of Figures . x Abstract . xii 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 2. MIDDLE FORMATIVE GULF COAST MESOAMERICA . 9 Sociopolitical Organization . 10 La Venta . 14 Record of Investigation at La Venta . 18 Geoarchaeology of La Venta and Environs . 24 3. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF SAN ANDRES . 26 4. PRECOLUMBIAN OBSIDIAN OF MESOAMERICA . 31 Obsidian’s Significance to Mesoamerican Cultures . 32 Obsidian Acquisition in Formative Period Mesoamerica . 35 Obsidian’s Significance to Archaeological Inquiry . 37 Sourcing Mesoamerican Obsidian . 38 Neutron Activation Analysis Visual Sourcing Technological Typology . 46 The Blade Industry The Flake Industry Bipolar Percussion Previous Formative Period Obsidian Source Studies . 54 vi 5. THE SAN ANDRES OBSIDIAN RESEARCH PROJECT . 59 Analytical Procedures . 60 Neutron Activation Analysis of San Andrés Obsidian . 62 Visual Criteria Employed on San Andrés Obsidian . 66 Quantitative Results of Neutron Activation Analysis and Visual Analysis . 68 Obsidian Industries at San Andrés . 71 The Function of Obsidian Tools at San Andrés . 73 6. SAN ANDRES AND FORMATIVE PERIOD OBSIDIAN . 77 Chronological Interpretation of San Andrés Obsidian Artifacts . 78 The Molina Ceramic Phase (1400-1200 cal BC) The Early Puente Ceramic Phase (900 to 750 cal BC) The Late Puente Ceramic Phase (750 to 650 cal BC) The Early Franco Ceramic Phase (650 to 550 cal BC) The Late Franco Ceramic Phase (550 to 400 cal BC) The Post Formative Activity (cal AD 900 to 1521) La Venta Obsidian Production and San Andrés . 90 Considerations of San Andrés Obsidian . 91 The Socioeconomic Relationship between San Andrés and La Venta Feasting Events at San Andrés Trade or Acquisition Networks Obsidian Quantities at San Andrés 7. CONCLUDING REMARKS . 107 Considerations of Past and Future Research . 110 APPENDIX A. Tables . 113 Table 9. San Andrés Ceramic Complexes and Radiocarbon Dates Table 10. Quantitative Analysis of San Andrés Obsidian Artifacts Table 11. San Andrés Obsidian Industries Table 12. Blades, Flakes, and Bipolar Reduction Weights Table 13. San Andrés Obsidian Artifacts APPENDIX B. Description of Obsidian Source Areas Identified at San Andrés . 132 vii BIBLIOGRAPHY . 143 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH . 165 viii LIST OF TABLES 1. Occupational Chronology of San Andrés . 30 2. Concentrations of Elements Measured by Abbreviated-NAA . 63 3. NAA Source Identification of San Andrés Samples . 65 4. Visual Criteria for Sourcing San Andrés Obsidian . 67 5. Weights of Imported Obsidian by Source and Phase . 69 6. Degrees of Use and Possible Work Materials . 74 7. Type and Degree of Macroscopically Observed Use-Wear by Ceramic Phase . 75 8. Macroscopically observed Use-Wear patterns of San Andrés Obsidian . 75 9. San Andrés Ceramic Complexes and Radiocarbon Dates . 113 10. Quantitative Analysis of San Andrés Obsidian Artifacts by Source and Phase . 114 11. San Andrés Obsidian Industries . 117 12. Blades, Flakes, and Bipolar Reduction by Weight . 120 13. San Andrés Obsidian Artifacts . 122 ix LIST OF FIGURES 1. Formative period Mesoamerica . 3 2. Map of La Venta center . 15 3. Monolithic sculptures (935 to 810 cal B.C.) . 17 4. River levee occupational sites . 22 5. Preliminary map of San Andrés . 28 6. Formative period representations of avian figures . 34 7. Schematic representation of Mesoamerican blade industries . 48 8. Identification of core and blade parts . 49 9. Core-reduction sequence during production of prismatic blades . 50 10. Examples of Precolumbian obsidian prismatic blades . 51 11. General behavioral model of Mesoamerican flake industry . 52 12. Example of bipolar percussion . 53 13. Obsidian sources recovered at San Andrés . 66 14. Preliminary Map of San Andrés . 79 15. Examples
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