The multiple reciprocal exchanges model involves the direct acquisition of obsidian by local people for the express purpose of transferring the obsidian to neighboring communities in exchange for other items. In this model, people residing in Chivay area, perhaps no more than one day's travel from the source, procure material and transport it to a location where the obsidian is then exchanged with neighbors.

This kind of procurement resembles Renfrew's (1975: 520) "Reciprocity" and the "Down-the-line" modes (see Figure 2-2), where goods are exchanged with neighboring groups of roughly equal status through a variety of configurations that are essentially reciprocal in some form. While a synchronic barter of obsidian for, say, a chunk of ochre from the neighboring region is easiest to describe conceptually, reciprocity relationships are a manifestation of a wide range of social mechanisms (Section 2.2.2). In the context of the Chivay area, reciprocal exchange arrangements such as barter for other products, or for grazing rights, for labor, or for social functions such as bridewealth, may be evident. Furthermore, delayed reciprocal arrangements between neighbors are extremely common. Evidence of Down-the-line exchange may be encountered in a wide variety of socio-political contexts from Archaic Foragers to agro-pastoralists living on the periphery of states during the Late Prehispanic. If demand for a product is sufficiently high, archaeological evidence may be encountered of individuals devoting themselves to procurement in order to satisfy regional demand, but substantial quantities of goods would have to be reciprocated because the households that are sponsoring this increased procurement would have fewer provisioners working to bring subsistence to the household. Thus, if down-the-line demand is sufficiently great then the households devoting themselves to elevated rates of procurement would need to barter products for subsistence goods. In the Andes, the pattern observed from items like salt (Concha Contreras 1975: 74-76;Nielsen 2000) suggests that in modern circumstances when demand, and barter values, are sufficiently high, then the down-the-line network may be simply by-passed in favor of procurement through personal or caravan acquisition. Caravans from the consuming zone or adjacent highland areas will make the journey to procure the material and transport it for household use and for barter (a combination of the Direct Access model and the Independent Caravans model).

In a functioning Down-the-line system the flow of information is also important. The changes in the regional demand for a product like obsidian can return to the source area procurers through direct requests, or it might be reflected in increased barter value in a market context. Information exchange may also return specific demands from consumers as to the size, form, or quality of the source material. The temporal regularity of down-the-line reciprocal trade may also be quite variable, as down-the-line networks may dwindle and then be revived during a seasonal gathering or ceremonial occasion. Reciprocal relationships can take the form of mutualism and buffering, they may result from a need to complement the resources on a neighbor's territory, and they often present opportunities for ambitious individuals to advance their interests through differential access to non-local goods.