Chapter 6 - Obsidian conveyance in the Mountain World of the Numa

Since energetics do not fully explain the observed archaeological obsidian distribution patterns, we argue that obsidian conveyance is a historically stable social process where two separate but overlapping foraging territories, or tebíwa in Numic reckoning (Smoak 2006:20), encompassed the region. Furthermore, our energetic landuse model shows that the relative costs of procuring obsidian from four major regional sources are negligible in most cases. [...]we view obsidian source use as forming historically stable conveyance zones that are a proxy for mobility and social interaction linking ancient Numic bands to their core territories.