Temporal control

Temporal evidence in this area came principally from three radiocarbon dates acquired from the workshop test unit [Q02-2u3] that placed activities in the workshop area between the Terminal Archaic and the Middle Formative. These dates are important because they are earlier than evidence of discrete production activity has been found elsewhere in the region, and furthermore it serves to explain the dearth of ceramics in the workshop area because the activities begin during the Preceramic period.

Unfortunately, quarrying at the Q02-2 quarry pit itself was not able to be directly dated because no datable organic materials were encountered in the Q02-2u2 test unit. Inference from three possible lines of evidence suggests that the excavation of this quarry pit occurred during the Early Formative Period (2000 - 1300 cal BCE). These lines of evidence include:

(1) Analysis of the workshop Q02-2u3 test unit, 600m downslope of the quarry pit in question, shows evidence of the arrival of larger cores and intensification of production in a distinct event during the Early Formative.

(2) The total lack of ceramics associated with the quarry pit itself, the aceramic ancient road "Camino Hornillo" [A03-268] leading away from the quarry, and the sites in the immediate vicinity of the quarry are consistent with the early dates of activity at the workshop as ceramics should not be expected.

(3) The only diagnostic artifact found along Camino Hornillo [A03-268] was an obsidian projectile point in the 4f style that is diagnostic to the Terminal Archaic.

It is possible that obsidian hydration dating may provide evidence linking obsidian flakes excavated from the quarry pit Q02-2u2 with obsidian from dated layers in the workshop Q02-2u3 unit through relative dating. Brooks (1998: 447-451) ran obsidian hydration on ten samples with Glascock from MURR on obsidian from Juscallacta, but the resulting dates were far older than expected, confirming a general skepticism among archaeologists regarding hydration dating as an absolute dating method. An application of hydration dating at the Maymeja quarry would have to overcome two principal obstacles. First, hydration dating has been shown to be unreliable in areas with large temperature fluctuations and particularly in places where there are diurnal temperature changes (Anovitz, et al. 1999) as is certainly the case in the Chivay source area. Second, the samples from the two contexts may not be comparable because the obsidian flakes from the workshop unit Q02-2u3 are often in saturated soils as they are adjacent to a bofedal, while in contrast the obsidian at the quarry pit Q02-2u2 is in very dry sandy ash, and therefore environmental moisture is much greater in one circumstance than in another. Obsidian hydration rates are sensitive to the amount of moisture in the vicinity of the obsidian sample.

Intensified obsidian production

Episodes of intensified production were apparent in test excavation units at both the quarry pit and the workshop. At the quarry pit, the upper most levels (2 and 3) of the test unit showed evidence of concentrated activity, and because this test unit was in a debris pile, the strata are reversed so that levels 2 and 3 are the result of some of the deepest quarrying work at the quarry pit. In level 2a a number of discarded obsidian nodules were encountered measuring approximately 7 cm in length, and the thickness and angle of these strata indicated that quarrying was active and was resulting in a build-up in the discard zone. The low quantities of bifacial retouch or culturally-flaked stone of any kind in these upper levels at Q02-2u2 suggests that during the final episodes of excavation at the quarry it was purely whole nodules that were being extracted and transported away.

At the Q02-2u3 workshop, down the slope, intensified production was most apparent in levels 5 and 4 with evidence of the availability of larger cores taking the form of the discard of large cores and cortical flakes. These levels are interpreted as representing greater regularity in reduction strategies because they were thicker levels and production was more abundant, yet artifact morphology and variability was consistently low. In level 5, evidence was encountered that suggests that some proportion of cores were being transported away while others, even relatively large cores, were discarded at the workshop. In level 4, a similar strategy was in place, where it appears that medium and large cores with certain desirable characteristics were exported after some reduction, and some large flake blanks were also exported, but a fairly large percentage of cores and large flakes were discarded, suggesting that there was an abundance of material. Level 4 was thicker than other natural levels and it showed distinct evidence of abundance in large nodules, and relatively wasteful production, with large cores being sampled and discarded, along with the discard of large flakes. The presence of Kombewa flakes in levels 4 and 5, a flake-as-core technique, suggests that some variability in knapping strategies was practiced.

These characteristics changed dramatically in level 3 when discarded cores and flakes became much smaller and more advanced reduction seemed to have been occurring. The number of retouched flakes drops significantly, but concurrently the number of broken bifaces increased to thirteen, indicating that some advanced reduction was occurring. Activities in level 3 are distinct from all other levels and difficult to characterize because they seem contradictory. On the one hand, reduction strategies were more variable as some advanced reduction was occurring and heavy rotation and conservation of cores was taking place; while on the other hand, there were relatively large cores (cluster #3 type cores) being discarded as well as some cortical flakes in the level 3 assemblage. The peculiar pattern detected in level 3 may be due to a combination of a return to more local and variable production, combined with scavenging from the richness of the discarded material in the previous occupation level. By the ensuing level, level 2, the assemblage appears to have continued the pattern of variable reduction strategies but with lessened access to large nodules. In sum, the evidence from intensification at the quarry and the workshop suggests that workshop reduction began in the Terminal Archaic, quarry excavation and workshop production intensified and became more regular during the Early Formative, and ultimately during the final levels workshop activities returned to more haphazard localized production.

Links to the pastoral economy

The final pattern evident in the intensified obsidian production that was documented in the southern part of Maymeja is the correlation between pastoralism and obsidian production. There is the simple fact that it is physically easier for pastoralists to access and circulate obsidian. Burger and Asaro (1977: 41) note that tool-quality obsidian is found on geologically young volcanoes which, in the Andes, are from the Late Miocene and are typically found above 4000 masl where pastoralists reside. Furthermore, herders have the cargo animals to transport nodules. Based on the 2003 survey of the Chivay source, obsidian is available in a number of locations between 4950 and 5000 masl on the flanks of Cerro Hornillo. Obsidian lag gravels, often material with heterogeneities, blanket the Maymeja area and occur on a wide range of slopes on the eastern flanks of Hornillo. Obsidian is also eroding from a gully on the north side of Maymeja in an exposure labeled Q02-1. While there is reason to believe quality obsidian nodules lie underneath the tephra rich soils in a number of areas around Hornillo, it is surely no coincidence that the most high volume and persistent source of water in the region is adjacent to the Maymeja workshop, and the quarry pit is upslope to the east, as close to the workshop as possible along the 4970 masl contour.

Three principal patterns link obsidian production with pastoralism in this area:

(1) Maymeja production. The Maymeja workshop is adjacent to a water source and a rich grazing area, and a maintained, but relatively clean and unoccupied, corral [A03-127] sits adjacent to the Maymeja workshop. Construction in this area follows the margin of the rich bofedal, small circular structures and eroded terraces were evident here, and obsidian flakes litter the area. The second highest densities of flaked obsidian were found in the lower, northwestern portions of Maymeja close to the modern estancia [A03-570]. It is possible that these two zones were occupied simultaneously, as each residential sector adjoins a separate, large bofedal.

(2) Local Scale. Throughout the highland portion of the 2003 survey, especially in Block 2, concentrations of obsidian flakes were almost always associated with pastoralist site features. A road leads away from the quarry pit that suggests that loaded caravans departed to the south from the Chivay source along a route referred to as Camino Hornillo. This route is in an unsurprising location, as the road climbs out of Maymeja along the least-steep possible route, and following this road caravans could soon join the regional trail network near Lagunas Lecceta, just a few kilometers to the south.

(3) Regional Scale. The consumption of Chivay obsidian is largely associated with pastoralist sites. It expands on a regional scale in the Terminal Archaic with pastoralism, and on the western foothills of the Andes both obsidian and herding corrals are rare below an altitude of 1200 masl.

The simple association of obsidian with pastoral activities of shearing and butchering appears plausible on one level and such applications of obsidian probably facilitated its widespread distribution (Section 3.6). Despite this functionalist association between obsidian and pastoralism, several particulars of obsidian consumption patterns run contrary to this view. First, high-quality cherts with excellent fracture properties are available throughout the Titicaca Basin and given the quantity and size of Titicaca Basin herds, particularly in the Late Formative and onwards, one would expect much greater quantities of obsidian consumption as herd sizes grew. In fact, obsidian consumption appears to have been relatively reduced as populations and herds grew during Late Prehispanic times. Second, in the Chivay obsidian consumption zone sufficiently large flakes for shearing and butchering (for example, 2 cm or larger) are relatively rare in both surface and excavated contexts. Curation of obsidian in tool form does not appear to have been a priority except for in the production of projectile points.

The links between pastoralism and obsidian circulation appear to have more indirect than the functional connection would suppose. The development of regional caravan exchange, including long-distance circuits and the relative ease of transporting weight, served to move stone into regions where such materials were rare. The second probable connection is the social and symbolic link that obsidian provides between consumers, non-local trade networks, and representation of alliance and affiliation. Obsidian possession was one of a number of ways of differentiating ones self. Evidence of access to non-local raw materials, mediated through camelid caravans and pastoral economy, was one possible way to demonstrate social connections and access to goods and knowledge in other forms. Additional aspects of the social and symbolic links with obsidian exchange will be discussed below.