3.4.1. Asana

The site of Asana is at 3435 masl in the Osmore drainage of Moquegua, and it lies 185 km or 50 hours by the hiking model to the south-east of the Chivay source. Excavations at Asana were directed by Aldenderfer(1998: 76-80)between 1986 and 1991 and in the lower levels of the deeply-stratified site obsidian was found in low concentrations.

Titicaca Chronology (BCE)	¹⁴C yr bp	Lab Code (Beta-)	Cal.BCE	¹⁴CSample Provenience	Obsidian Provenience	Obsidian Type	Obsidian Artifacts
Early Form. 2000-1300	3640±80	23364	2300-1750	II (sup), TU1	II	Aconcahua (visual ID)	n=3, 0.4%
Late Archaic 5000-3300	6040±90	24634	5210-4720	XIVb, I25b	XIV		n=1, 2%
Middle Archaic 7000-5000	6040±90	24634	5210-4720	XIVb, I25b	XIV		n=1, 2%
	6550±110	24629	5680-5300	XVIIa, G24b	KF4a: J29D-8; XVIIA	Chivay
	6550±110	24629	5680-5300	XVIIa, G24b	KF4b: J29D-8; XVIIA	Chivay
Early Archaic 9000-7000	8620±110	47057	8200-7450	PXIX, P38b
	8780±90	43920	8250-7600	PXX, V51a	KF5: F28D-5; PXXi	Chivay
	8720±110	33303	8250-7550	PXXI, R43c	KF6: P38D-W; PXXI	Chivay
	8720±110	33303	8250-7550	PXXI, R43c	KF2: W41A-4; PXXII	Chivay
	8720±120	43922	8250-7550	PXXIII, X36c
	8720±110	35599	8250-7550	PXXIV, T34a			n=11, 0.36%
					KF3: T42B-7;F28D-5	Chivay	n=1, 0.08%
					KF1: U41D-6; PXXV	Chivay
	9820±150	40063	9900-8700	PXXXIII, S38c

Table 3-4. Asana obsidian samples, collections, and associated¹⁴C samples by level (Aldenderfer 1998: 131, 157, 163, 209, 268;Frye, et al. 1998).

These data from Asana show that low frequencies of Chivay obsidian occurred regularly through Early and Middle Archaic levels at the site despite the presence of high quality cherts nearby, and low quality obsidian from the Aconcahua source located about 50 km away. During the Late Archaic, obsidian disappears from the site and in a level that is transitional between the Terminal Archaic and Early Formative, obsidian returns in the form of lower-quality Aconcahua material. These data will be discussed in more detail below as obsidian use is explored by time period.