Geochemical provenance of obsidian artifacts using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

Obsidian tools and flakes are commonly examined in sourcing studies from areas with abundant volcanogenic deposits. Obsidian provenance research in the Central Mexican Region has shown extensive networks of obsidian trade during the Mayan Preclassic and Classic periods. In this study, X-ray fluorescence was used to analyze a previously unstudied collection of over 200 artifacts. This was housed at the Museum of Anthropology (University of Missouri) from the sites of Tula and Teotihuacan in Mexico, and Utatlan, Cotzumalhuapa, and Kaminaljuyu in Guatemala. The resulting data from the artifact analysis were then compared to the obsidian source reference database at the Archaeometry Lab at the University of Missouri Research Reactor. Nearly all of the samples were positively assigned to known volcanic sources. The resulting assignments can be used to support patterns of both reliance on nearby sources, as well as long-distance exchange, of obsidian through central Mexico and Guatemala.