Chan: An Ancient Maya Farming Community

14. Obsidian Acquisition, Trade, and Regional Interaction at Chan

14 Obsidian Acquisition, Trade, and Regional Interaction at Chan James Meierhoff, Mark Golitko, and James D. Morris Obsidian objects were a part of daily life and ritual events for people across the Maya world. Despite being a long-distance trade item for most Mayaarea inhabitants, obsidian is commonly found in all people’s homes regardless of status. This chapter presents the results of source origin studies of obsidian artifacts from the agrarian community of Chan. As a wide range of social contexts were explored at Chan, from the homes of humble farmers to those of community leaders and from domestic to ceremonial contexts , the Chan obsidian assemblage allows us to gauge potential variability or homogeneity in people’s procurement and use of obsidian across status lines and social contexts in a farming community. Chan’s deep 2,000-year history provides an obsidian assemblage with a long temporal range from the Middle Preclassic to the Early Postclassic (650 BC–AD 1150/1200), which allows for an investigation of the often subtle fluctuations of obsidian procurement utilized across the long duration of the pre-Columbian period in the Maya lowlands. A total of 742 obsidian artifacts were excavated during the 2003 to 2006 excavation seasons at Chan from the community center, leading family residences, and locations in Chan’s settlement area including agricultural terraces, a lithic workshop, limestone quarries, and their associated households . Elemental composition analysis was undertaken using a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) device to determine geological sources for the entire obsidian assemblage. The portable-XRF’s ability to quickly and accurately (and cheaply) assess the chemical composition of Mesoamerican obsidian allowed for a 100 percent sample of this material to be nondestructively analyzed, a feat that was not that long ago unanticipated (Braswell et al. 2000: 270). 272 · J. Meierhoff, M. Golitko, and J. Morris The identification of obsidian artifacts’ geophysical raw material origin , or “sourcing,” functions on the premise that each volcanic flow that yields silicic glass (obsidian) produces distinctive material in regard to its trace element composition. Guatemalan obsidian sources are chemically distinct, so much so that misclassifying an accurately measured artifact is estimated to occur approximately only once in 100,000 cases (4 in 100,000 in regards to Mexican obsidian), thus resulting in a high degree of confidence (Glascock 2002: 614; Cobean et al. 1991). The goal of this chapter is to elucidate the patterns of obsidian use and procurement at Chan, both temporally and spatially. We will conclude by comparing the Chan results with larger networks and procurement patterns previously identified in the Belize Valley and broader Mesoamerican area. Chan’s longevity allows us to examine the impacts of sociopolitical and economic changes ongoing in the Belize Valley, including the rapid florescence and decline of the regional polity capital Xunantunich, and determine what impact they may (or may not) have had on the maintenance of exchange networks that supplied smaller settlements with obsidian. The Chan Obsidian Assemblage The Chan obsidian assemblage consists of 742 objects identified across 668 excavation contexts. The assemblage includes blade fragments and blades as well as flake and flake fragments and a single small, 1 cm by 1.2 cm, flat oval obsidian mosaic piece. Excavations at Chan’s Central Group, from ritual , administrative, residential, and ancillary contexts, yielded 328 obsidian artifacts; 228 were recovered from the West Plaza; 57 were recovered from the type 5 and type 6 households of the extended families of Chan’s leaders (C-002 and C-003) located east of the Central Group; and an additional 16 obsidian artifacts were discovered in post-hole excavations around the Central Group. In addition, 113 obsidian artifacts came from household and agricultural excavations across the Chan community, including two type 1 and one type 3 farming household, one agricultural area, one type 2 lithic production household, and one type 3 limestone quarrying household. Obsidian artifacts from the midlevel neighborhood at Chan excavated by Chelsea Blackmore (ch. 9, this vol.) and seven type 1 and 2 farming households excavated by Cynthia Robin in 1996 and 1997 were not available at the time of this analysis and thus were not included. Obsidian Acquisition, Trade, and Regional Interaction · 273 Two fill contexts from the ancillary structures, Structures 3 and 4, adjacent to the leading family residence at the Central Group, which date to the Early Classic and Late Preclassic, respectively, contained debitage related to core maintenance activities...