Core and Periphery: Obsidian Craft Production in Late Postclassic (a.d. 1250/1300–1519) Tlaxcallan, Mexico

This work present results of an analysis of supply, use, and production of obsidian artifacts in Tepeticpac and Metepec, two settlements of Late Postclassic (a.d. 1250/1300–1519) Tlaxcallan. The first sample (n = 9222) was recovered in two architectural compounds at Tepeticpac, a first-order settlement and part of the Tlaxcallan urban core. Tepeticpac materials exhibit a strong focus on prismatic blade production intended mainly for ceremonial or ritual use. The second sample (n = 14,915) comes from an architectural compound and a nearby obsidian discard area in Metepec, a peripheral second-order site. Metepec artifacts focused on the production of blades and bifacials, with greater evidence of different phases of obsidian processing indicating the presence of a nearby obsidian workshop. Comparison of obsidian craft production from both sites points towards decentralized craft production at Tlaxcallan and an open market economy for obsidian acquisition and consumption but also to marked political and socioeconomic hierarchies within the polity.