Obsidian circulation in the Sierra Madre Occidental of northern México: New source identification and analysis of procurement patterns

Obsidian provenance data plays a central role in reconstructions of patterns of interaction and trade in the North American Southwest. Unfortunately, there has been much less investment in obsidian provenance studies in the southern portion of this region, pertaining to Northwest Mexico, with the Sierra Madre Occidental and coastal regions of Sonora being acutely understudied. This study presents data on 338 specimens recovered in the former and offers a first glimpse of patterns from the late-precolonial era to historic period. We also report a characterization of one newly discovered source in this region, El Colorín de Jecota. Interpretations remain hampered by a significant number of “unknowns”. Patterns of obsidian transport contribute substantially to present interpretations that trade relationships were highly balkanized with communities evidencing variable levels of source diversity and procurement strategies that do not uniformly reflect a prioritization of spatial propinquity.