Obsidian studies in Mendoza (Argentina): A sinuous way to do the things without following the rules

GIESSO, M.; CORTEGOSO VALERIA; DURÁN, V.; NEME, G; BARBERENA, R

Austin

Simposio; 79th SAA Annual Meeting; 2014

Society for American Archaeology

In this paper we present a synthesis on the changing view of obsidian use in west-central Argentina andcentral Chile over the past 15 years. When this obsidian-sourcing program started, there was limitedinformation about the number of sources, their locations, usage, and accessibility. In a region ofapproximately 200,000 square kilometers, information was limited to that coming from El Maule sourcelocated on the international border between Argentina and Chile. In 1998, Michael Glascock and colleagues described a series of steps to follow when starting an obsidian sourcing study in a new region - steps that were not taken into consideration when we began our work. Due to the size of the area and the inductive approach we followed, there were a number of misunderstandings, over-interpretations and shifting views about the locations, circulation, and number of obsidian sources in the region. Building on this experience, we describe what we have learned during the research process and our current views. Finally, we reflect on how we can improve our knowledge during the next few years.