Obsidian in the Casas Grandes world: Procurement, exchange, and interaction in Chihuahua, Mexico, CE 1200–1450. (February 2017) - Dolan, Sean G.
Abstract: The Casas Grandes area in Chihuahua, Mexico and the site of Paquimé was the center of one the largest regional systems in the U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest (SW/NW) during the Medio period (CE 1200–1450). People participated in local and distant exchange networks with groups in the SW/NW, Mesoamerica, and West Mexico. Our knowledge of which obsidian sources people used in Casas Grandes is limited, despite how obsidian could have derived from many different places. We examine how the use of specific obsidian sources may relate to broader political and economic relationships within the Casas Grandes regional system and its association with the Mimbres and Animas regions of the SW/NW. We sourced 116 artifacts using EDXRF spectrometry from four sites that neighbor Paquimé. Results demonstrate people used obsidian from Chihuahua, Sonora, and New Mexico. There were varying levels of social interaction and regional integration because there is diversity in source use at the site level, and Casas Grandes were more connected to the Animas region than Mimbres regarding obsidian resource procurement. Highlights: The largest obsidian sourcing study for northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico is given. People during the Medio period utilized ten obsidian sources from Chihuahua, Sonora, and New Mexico. Antelope Wells, Sierra Fresnal, and Chihuahua Unknown A were the three most used sources. Obsidian procurement varied between the four sites investigated. Casas Grandes was economically tied to the Animas region more so than the Mimbres region with the use of obsidian.