In the immediate vicinity of the obsidian source archaeological evidence of the direct acquisition mode would produce high variability in procurement, but relatively small quantities in production because consumption would be limited to the households of those visiting the source. Greater amounts of advanced reduction evidence, including bifacial thinning flakes and tools, broken and discarded during manufacture, will be in evidence at the source area. This type of procurement would have the greatest chance of resulting in diagnostic projectile points in the area as advanced reduction and potential discard in the area of the source is expected. When temporal control is available, primarily from datable organic material in excavated contexts, direct acquisition should result in irregular visits to the source area based on household need. In excavation units cultural material will likely be low-density, as soil and perhaps ash from adjacent active volcanoes will have time to accumulate as visitation rates are low.
There is some chance that undecorated, non-local pottery might be found in association with quarrying or with adjacent rest area bofedal zones. For example, Formative Period ceramics from the southern Lake Titicaca are typically fiber tempered, but in the north basin and in the Colca they are grit tempered. Evidence of fiber tempered plainware may have resulted from discard during direct access procurement by southern Titicaca Basin visitors. Other temper and paste characteristics may serve to identify non-local pottery. Alternately, non-local pottery may result from reciprocation activities (i.e., the Down-the-line model), but the notion here is that non-decorated, utilitarian pottery may have been too crude to have served as barter goods.