A. Gabriel Vicencio

This study analyzes data from multiple excavation projects to investigate the procurement and production strategies of obsidian blades in Mexico’s Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley, focusing on the socioeconomic interactions among various groups from the Middle Formative period (900–500 b.c .) to the Late Postclassic period ( a.d. 1250–1519). Geochemical and geospatial analyses indicate that obsidian previously attributed to the El Paredón source predominantly originates from its Tres Cabezas subsource. The analysis of obsidian artifacts from nine sites reveals that local blade production processes began at intermediate stages, with cores being reduced to produce prismatic blades primarily for local consumption. Technological evidence suggests that procurement strategies evolved from independent acquisition patterns to more complex cooperative systems that likely involved itinerant artisans and merchants who sustained a consistent regional supply network. This study underscores the pivotal role of sociocultural relationships and trade networks in the distribution of obsidian. The continuity and adaptability of these procurement and production strategies ensured a stable supply of obsidian blades, shedding light on the intricate political and economic landscape of the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley over millennia.

Neighborhood centers at Teotihuacan provide important information about the city’s urban organization and systems of governance beyond central administrative complexes. They served multiple social functions, with evidence from some spaces consistent with ritual activities and others with residences for district elites. Yet precise uses can be difficult to discern because architecture and associated materials often present evidence of both, along with possible civic or administrative functions. Interdisciplinary investigations are necessary to probe expected patterns for more domestic activities versus civic-ceremonial ones. After first investigating apartment compounds, the Proyecto Arqueológico Tlajinga Teotihuacan (PATT) turned to understanding the construction history and uses of elevated platform complexes in the district’s neighborhood center. In comparison with nearby apartments, these complexes were elaborately made and decorated. Their larger courtyards and patios could accommodate group ceremonial activities, but portions of complexes may have also served as residences for intermediate elites, evidence of which is stronger for the earliest construction phase. We combine excavation and artifact analysis with geophysical prospection and floor and artifact chemistry to compare platform complexes with a baseline residential pattern from excavated apartments in order to elucidate what spaces served more community versus domestic functions.

Portable X‐ray fluorescence (pXRF) geochemical analysis on obsidian from five Formative period (1200 BCE to AC 100) sites from Tlaxcala, Mexico, has revealed that most of the material had similar values to those found in the closest obsidian source, named El Paredón, Puebla. Nevertheless, initial analyses did not resolve whether these materials came from the same caldera or from a specific obsidian deposit. Here we present a methodology that allows the identification of obsidian subsources. The results reveal that Tlaxcalan populations took advantage of a specific obsidian deposit called Tres Cabezas, Puebla, providing valuable new data to identify associated regional exchange networks.

This study investigates the impact of the Aztec Triple Alliance on trade and economic activity in the region of Puebla-Tlaxcala during the Late Postclassic period (AD 1200–1519). Ethnohistorical sources describe the Aztec Triple Alliance as constantly at war with settlements in the Tlaxcala region. To weaken their Tlaxcalteca rivals, the Aztecs imposed a trade blockade to reduce the flow of resources into Puebla-Tlaxcala. This article uses archaeological evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of this blockade. It compares the types of obsidian used to manufacture lithic tools from Aztec-controlled sources with those used within Puebla-Tlaxcala. Information from the large center of Tepeticpac and the small obsidian workshop site of Cinco Santos II, both in the Tlaxcala domain, are compared to other sites in Central Mexico prior to and during the height of Aztec influence. The results show little difference in regional trade patterns: obsidian from Sierra de las Navajas and Otumba was used in proportions in the Tlaxcala region in the Late Postclassic similar to those used during earlier periods. If an embargo was attempted, it was largely unsuccessful in isolating Tlaxcala from broader regional distribution networks.

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.