Obsidian procurement in the Early Agropastoralist period took place in the context of sweeping changes in economic and political circumstances in the south-central Andes. A marked increase in interregional exchange was complemented by greater sedentism and possible circumscription, an increased reliance on food production, and early evidence of social ranking in the form of differences in supra-household architecture and grave goods. The social and economic integration of altiplano communities through networks of regular camelid caravans has been proposed as an important preliminary stage in early economic coalescence in south-central Andean highland communities prior to the emergence of regional polities of the Late Formative (Browman 1981;Dillehay and Nuñez 1988). While an increased reliance on camelid pastoralism is evident from regional settlement patterns and faunal assemblages, the date of the onset of the system of regional caravan networks is difficult to establish.

The existing evidence from diagnostic ceramic distributions suggest that regional integration through regular caravan traffic occurred when particular styles became more widely distributed, such as Middle Formative Qaluyu pottery, or earlier with Early/Middle Formative fiber-tempered pottery in the southern Titicaca Basin. However, the regional styles of projectile points changed dramatically in a time period that is earlier still: the Terminal Archaic (3300 cal BCE). While changes in projectile point styles are likely connected to technological modification, such as the use of bow and arrow and differences in hafting, the widespread adoption of the series 5 projectile points throughout the central and south-central Andes from the Junin puna to northern Chile suggests that interregional contact was pervasive.

Evidence showing that quarrying and workshop activity at the Chivay source began during the latter part of the Terminal Archaic, suggests that the regional economy was already becoming relatively integrated and responsive to non-local demand. First, the evidence from this period shows that production targeted larger nodules that served to signal surplus and abundance, and would retain greater use-life with distance from the source. Second, the quarrying activity appeared to focus on obtaining the Ob1 obsidian nodules of clear or grey material. Finally, the date inferred for the construction of a swept path out of the Chivay source quarry area appears to coincide with production at the source; although the specific dating of the construction of the road is tenuous. Changes in the regional demand, the responsiveness of procurement, and the ability to transport obsidian, are part of a larger suite of changes during the Terminal Archaic and Early Formative, and this production system will be discussed below in the context of regional integration during that time period.

The Early Agropastoralist period in Block 2 shows evidence of growing pastoral herds and the construction of a variety of well-established animal control structures. These Block 2 facilities, many of which are abandoned today, are notable in that a variety of ceramics and lithic artifact styles are scattered on the surface of these sites. These pastoral structures may be interpreted as corrals, or some other animal control structure but with additional ritual functions. For example, at the site of Pausa, three large ovals varying in size from 20m in diameter to 50m in diameter were examined. These structures are delimited by solidly placed large rocks between 30-100cm across and the ovals have several curious attributes: (1) the ovals, regardless of size, all have 26 to 28 large rocks, (2) niches along the east side of the largest oval suggest that this structure was more than merely a corral, (3) the quantity of obsidian and ceramics at the site of Pausa far exceeds similar configurations elsewhere in Block 2, suggesting a particularly important function for this site. The 2003 testing at two of the Pausa structures revealed what appears to have been a domestic hearth dating to the Late Formative, around AD200, and the construction of a secondary structure and platform at the end of the Late Formative around AD400. The evidence from surface ceramics distributions suggest that these Late Formative dates are linked to a number of those corral mounds. Advanced-stage obsidian reduction is found in abundance at these mound structures, which implies that the people pasturing the expanding herds of camelids in Block 2 were involved in obsidian tool manufacture, but the presence of exclusively small, advanced stage flakes (never greater than 4 cm) implies that these people were not responsible for the initial quarrying of large nodules since the evidence shows that they never discarded large flakes or cores in Block 2.

In the upper Colca drainage in Block 3, the Early Agropastoralist evidence is less defined than was the occupation in the Block 2 puna area. The quality of pasture is known to be considerably better, particularly for alpacas, above 4200 masl. Several sherds of non-local ceramics with similarities to Middle Formative (Qaluyu) and Late Formative (Pukara) in the Lake Titicaca Basin were encountered in the course of work in this area which suggests that the Callalli area was a major cross-roads and thoroughfare, as it is today. Obsidian was found primarily in the form of finished bifacial tools, but some obsidian production was encountered in Terminal Archaic contexts at the rock shelter of Quelkata, and at the open air site of Taukamayo. While the test unit at Taukamayo produced Tiwanaku period dates (circa AD 650), many of the ceramics that were observed in the landslide debris appear to date to the Formative.