Maya Obsidian of the Three Rivers Region

The Ancient Maya of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras represent one of the most complex and sophisticated pre-Columbian societies in the Americas. For nearly 2000 years, these people wrought a civilization from the region’s thick, tropical forests, which at its height was home to upwards of five million people.

While the research interests of Maya archaeology are many, Maya political economy and interaction has long been a focus.  The movement of non-local materials into areas distant from their origin have the potential to speak directly to these larger issues.  Of the many non-local materials ferried throughout the Maya lowlands, obsidian, a volcanic glass used in the production of a variety of military, ritual and utilitarian artifacts, is nearly omnipresent.  Almost no Maya archaeological site is absent of this widely distributed material.  However, unlike the wide distribution of Maya obsidian artifacts, geologic sources of the raw material are much more discrete occurring only in specific geographic contexts.  In the case of the Maya region, raw obsidian can only found in the highlands of southern Guatemala and throughout Central Mexico often traversing great distances through complex exchange networks before making its way to its final internment into the archaeological record.

The Three Rivers Obsidian Provenance Project sought to understand the dynamics behind Maya socio-political and economic interaction as it is seen through the movement and distribution of obsidian throughout the Three Rivers region of northwestern Belize.  Through the use of a variety of geochemical analytical tools, one can discern the geological origin of a particular obsidian artifact.  A selection of artifacts housed at the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project’s (PfBAP) field laboratory in Northwestern Belize was analyzed using portable energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (PXRF) instrumentation.  Obsidian artifacts curated at the field laboratory have been collected from many of the various archaeological surveys and excavations conducted under the PfBAP.  Many of which stem from a variety of cultural and temporal contexts and site types. In total 1,734 obsidian artifacts were analyzed to discern their geologic origin. Such a broad and regional sample allows for great insight into ancient Maya socio-economic dynamics and interaction.

If you'd like to learn more about the Three Rivers Obsidian Provenance project click here.