Study provenance of archaeological obsidian Cantona, Puebla

Abstract

Central Mexico has several of the most important obsidian deposits in Mesoamerican lithic industry. Based on archaeological research, the economic and political expansion of many of the major cultures in Mesoamerica were related to the control of certain obsidian sources and their trade routes. Our aim is to probe the hypothesis that the geochemical characterization of obsidian deposits can give us a specific pattern that would allow us to correlate them with archaeological artifacts. In this way, we applied XRFand ICP-MS methods to analyze samplesfrom six important obsidian deposits in Central Mexico: Sierra de Pachuca, Tulancingo, Otumba, Zacualtipán, Paredín-Tres Cabezas and Zinapécuaro. We expect to obtain the geochemical signature of each source, so when we analyze archaeological artifacts later, we can compare patterns in order to correlate them. This correlation can be done by implementing computer statistical algorithms, like DBSCAN, that automatically calculate precise classifications of the samples analyzed. This work allows us to catch a glimpse of the great potential of the mix of geochemical methods with powerful statistical techniques to identify obsidian deposits; the role of that combination as an aid in studies of origins of archaeological artifacts is also show here as a tool helping to determine pre-Hispanic trade routes.