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Locating the Quispisisa Obsidian Source in the Department of Ayacucho, Peru

Author(s): Richard L. Burger and Michael D. Glascock
Source: Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Sep., 2000), pp. 258-268
Published by: Society for American Archaeology
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In 1999, the Quispisisa source of obsidian was located in the Province of Huanca Sancos in central Ayacucho near the village
of Sacsamarca. This discovery has been confirmed at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) by comparing the
neautron activation analyses of source samples with artifacts. The Quispisisa source of volcanic glass provided the raw mate-
rialfor most of the obsidian artifacts utilized in central and northern Peru throughout prehispanic times.
En 1999, se ubico la fuente geologica de obsidiana Quispisisa en la provincia de Huanca Sancos en la parte central de Ayacu-
cho, cerca del pueblo de Sacsamarca. Esta identificacion ha sido confirmada por analisis de NAA en la Universidad de Missouri,
mediante la comparacion de muestras del yacimiento con artefactos de sitios arqueologicos. El yacimiento de obsidiana Quispi-
sisa fue la fuente de materia prima para la mayoria de los artefactos de obsidiana en el area central y norte del Peru durante la
e'poca prehispanica.
Richard L. Burger * Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, Box 2081 18, 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven,
CT 06520
Michael D. Glascock * Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
Latin American Antiquity, 11(3), 2000, pp. 258-268
Copyright C) 2000 by the Society for American Archaeology
A lthough roughly a dozen geologic sources
of obsidian were exploited in what is now
Peru during prehispanic times, three major
sources were preeminent (Figure 1): the Quispisisa
source in Ayacucho, the Alca source in Arequipa
(Burger et al. 1 998b), and the Chivay source in Are-
quipa (Burger et al. 1998a). The broad patterns of
Central Andean obsidian exchange have been known
since the 1970s (Burger and Asaro 1977), but it is
only in recent years that these major geological
sources of the obsidian artifacts have been located.
This development has been facilitated by the return
of peaceful conditions conducive to fieldwork fol-
lowing the defeat of Sendero Luminoso by the Peru-
vian government.
The distinctive chemical signature, referred to as
Quispisisa, was originally identified on the basis of
obsidian artifact analyses at Lawrence Berkeley Lab-
oratory. It was observed that over 90% of the obsid-
ian artifacts analyzed from sites in central and
northern Peru could be identified as belonging to this
group. Based on incorrect information, the source of
this obsidian was believed to be located near the
town of San Genaro in the Province of Castrovir-
reyna, Department of Huancavelica (Burger and
Asaro 1979; Petersen 1970; Ravines 1971), and this
assumption has become widespread in the archaeo-
logical literature. However, explorations in the San
Genaro area by the senior author and other colleagues
were unable to confirm this putative location and,
consequently, the search for the Quispisisa source
shifted further south to Ayacucho where there were
unpublished reports of secondary deposits of geo-
logical obsidian in the Huanca Sancos area (Victor
Falcon personal communication 1998; William Isbell
personal communication 1999).
Encountering The Geological Source
In April 1999, the senior author, accompanied by
archaeologist Jose Pinilla, traveled to the city of Ayacu-
cho to gather additional information on reports of an
obsidian source in the Huanca Sancos area, and then
to travel to the area in question. Mining engineer, Blas
Cardenas, and topographer, Teodoro de la Cruz, con-
firmed that they had visited geological deposits of
obsidian within the Province of Huanca Sancos, and
258
LOCATING 1 HE QUISPISISA OBSIDIAN SOURCE IN 1 HE
DEPARTMENT OF AYACUCHO, PERU
Richard L. Burger and Michael D. Glascock
REPORTS 259
0 20 40 80 120 160 200 km
s . . . . e .
Figure 1. Map of southern Peru, showing the location of principal geological sources of obsidian utilized in prehispanic
times. Drawing by Rosemary Volpe.
their description of red and red-streaked obsidian nod-
ules as well as black obsidian matched what was
known of artifactual obsidian from the Quispisisa
source. However, there was a lack of consensus
between them, and Blas Cardenas indicated that the
source could be found 8 km northwest of the town of
Huanca Sancos, while de la Cruz located it 6 km south-
east of the village of Sacsamarca. Unfortunately, the
prolonged rainy season made travel to the putative
source area impossible until the following July.
Four months later, Burger traveled to the District
of Huanca Sancos with archaeologist Bernadino
Ojeda and chemist Guillermo Garcia. They stopped
in the village of Putajasa to spend the night and
entered into a discussion of obsidian with Justo
Palomino, the husband of the restaurant owner and
a native of Sacsamarca. He not only recognized the
obsidian that they showed him, but offered to take
them to its source, which he indicated was located
between Putajasa and Sacsamarca, several kilome-
ters to the west of the dirt road connecting these two
communities. OnJuly 5, 1999, the group traveledby
car to Chuecopampa (4050 m asl), where they were
able to observe two large piles of large obsidian nod-
ules of varying hues that had been brought by burro
from the geological source in order to transport them
to Lima for sale to merchants involved in the tourist
trade (Figure 2). During the ensuing two-hour trek
across high grasslands and shallow ravines, low
quantities of debris from obsidian preform or arti-
fact production were seen scattered on the surface in
several spots. Finally, the group arrived at a bluff
overlooking the Rfo Urabamba, a tributary of the Rio
Caracha, some 250 m below (Figure 3). Ihis area
appears on the Carta Geografica as Cerro Hatun-
rangra, but the obsidian outcrop is known locally as
Queshqa, which, in the Quechua dialect of Ayacu-
cho, means glass or other reflective matenal.
260
LATIN
AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol. 1 1, No. 3, 2000]
s
Figure 2. Large
obsidian
nodules
collected at the
outcrop near Cerro
Hatunrangra.
Descending the Lsteep side of a
vesicular
rhyolitic
deposit, the group
reached a large
deposit of obsid-
ian
(approximately
378S3750 m asl)
exposed by the
river. The
portion of the
deposit that is visible has a
thickness of at least 30 m and it
displays
horizontal
flow
banding due to the
presence of layers of
feldspar
and
quartz
crystals
within the
dominant layers of
volcanic glass
(Figure 4). The entire area is
covered
with
obsidian
nodules of
varying sizes, the larger of
which
exceed 30 cm on a side. The
deposit
appears
to be the result of a lava flow and there is some indi-
cation of
po.ssible
vertical
stacking of
multiple flows.
At the
deposit, the
ground is
covered with
worked
and
unworked
artifact-grade
ob.sidian, as well as cob-
bles
brought from the
nearby river for use as ham-
merstones.
Several
obsidian
preforms were
ob.served.
The
quality of the
obsidian is
uniformly
excellent and
lacks flaws such a.s
phenocry.sts or
cracking.
ln terms of the
region's
geological
history, this
obsidian
outcrop is part of the Grupo
Barroso, a for-
mation dating to the end of the Upper
Pliocene or
the early
Pleistocene
(Castillo et al.
1993:12).
Deposits of the Grupo
Barroso
extend to the areas
surrounding
Sacsamarca (15 km to the north) and
Huanca
Sancos (19 km to the
north), so the possi-
bility of
additional
obsidian
outcrops cannot be ruled
out
(Asociacion
LAGESA ]
996:64, Hoja 28-n), nor
can the
presence
downstream of
obsidian
cobbles in
alluvial
deposits be
addressed
without
additional
fieldwork. In
reviewing the
geological maps and
satellite
imagery of the area, Yale
University geolo-
gist Jay Ague
suggested that the
source of the lava
flows could be a
massive
caldera some 30 km in
diameter
located to the south of the
obsidian source
area. This
hypothesis
requires
testing in the field.
Obsidian
samples were
collected at the
outcrop near
Cerro
Hatunrangra and
analyzed by
Michael D. Glas-
cock at
MURR for
comparison with the
MURR data
base of
artifact
composition from the
Central
Andes.
Analysis
Sample
Preparation
Fifteen
source
samples from the
Hatunrangra out-
crop were
analyzed by NAA in this study. All 15 were
prepared for
neutron
activation
analysis by first
cleaning the
surfaces using tap water and a tooth-
brush.
Acetone and ethyl
alcohol were used to
remove all
identification
markings made with ink
and/or
fingernail
polish from the
surfaces. The
cleaned
specimens were cut with a
diamond-edged
trim saw and gently
reduced to
smaller
fragments of
REPORTS 261
:-.A
564000 : t d
. .. ,,., , ,.: ,,.,,.,.,.-, . ........ ... ................ ........... { }
0 1 2 3 4 5 km
I I I I I I (+) Provincial Capital
+ District Capital
@ Village
* Outcrop of Quispisisa Source Obsidian
t Unconfirmed Obsidian Deposit
E Above 4000 m
Figure 3. Location of the confirmed outcrop of Quispisisa source obsidian and the unconfirmed primary and secondary
obsidian deposits nearby. Drawing by Rosemary Volpe.
262 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
[Vol. 1 1, No. 3, 2000]
Figure 4. Outcrop of Quispisisa source of obsidian near Cerro Hatunrangra, Ayacucho. In the foreground is the hori-
zontally banded deposit containing obsidian nodules; the overlying bluff of vesicular rhyolite is visible in the back-
ground.
1>25 mg size using a clean ceramic mortar and pes-
tle. Individual fragments were sorted under a mag-
nifying glass to remove those with inclusions, crush
fractures, or metallic streaks. Analytical samples
were prepared for two separate irradiation proce-
dures employed at MURR by weighing them and
placing them into the polyethylene vials and quartz
vials used for short and long irradiations, respec-
tively. For the short irradiations, a 100 mg aliquot of
fragments was used, and for long irradiations, a 250
mg aliquot of fragments was used. In both instances,
sample weights were recorded to the nearest 0.01 mg.
Along with the source samples, reference standards
were similarly prepared from SRM-278 Obsidian
Rock and SRM- 1 633a Fly Ash.
Irradiation and Measurement
Neutron activation analysis of obsidian at MURR
involves one or two irradiations followed by one or
three measurements, respectively, to measure
between 6 and 27 elements. The first procedure
employs a short irradiation in sequential fashion of
the samples in polyethylene vials for five seconds in
a neutron flux of 8 x 1013 n cm 2 s-l followed by a
25-minute decay and 12-minute count with a high-
purity germanium (HPGe) detector. By measuring
the emitted radioactive gamma rays and comparison
to the standards, the concentrations of up to six ele-
ments (i.e., Ba, Cl, Dy, K, Mn and Na) can be deter-
mined. This short irradiation procedure at MURR is
frequently called our abbreviated-NAA procedure
and is satisfactory to determine sources for a large
percentage of artifacts in most geographic regions.
(See Glascock et al. [1994] for more information.)
The second procedure involves a long irradiation
of the quartz vials in batches of approximately 30
unknowns along with standard reference materials
for 70 hours in a neutron flux of 5 x 10'3 n cm 2 s-l,
which is followed by a pair of measurements. The
first count after long irradiation occurs one week
after the end of irradiation for 2000 seconds and the
second count takes place about four weeks later for
three hours on each sample and standard. The long
irradiation procedure enables measurement of seven
elements during a first count: Ba La Lu, Nd, Sm,
U, andYb; and 15 additional elements during the sec-
ond count: Ce Co, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sr,
Ta, Tb, Th, Zn and Zr.
Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges of Element Concentrations in New Source Samples from Sacsamarca
(Quispisisa) Analyzed at MURR.
- - - - - - -
REPORTS 263
Element
BA
LA
LU
ND
SM
U
YB
CE
CO
CS
EU
FE
HF
RB
SB
SC
SR
TA
TB
TH
ZN
ZR
CL
DY
K
MN
NA
Mean (ppm)
719.307
25.992
0.178
16.771
3.287
10.070
1.107
47.954
0.467
10.967
0.418
5626.033
3.249
174.691
1.294
1.362
162.981
1.173
0.279
19.487
33.148
153.057
362.647
1.55 1
39475.387
365.607
28355.947
St. Dev.
12.344
0.205
0.034
1.301
0.022
0.212
0.041
0.536
0.009
0.099
0.009
57.837
0.036
1.623
0.025
0.014
15.419
0.013
0.013
0.169
1.074
8.540
43.612
0.320
1898.700
3.380
238.024
% St. Dev.
1.716
0.789
19.017
7.759
0.684
2.108
3.729
1.118
1.990
0.907
2.213
1.028
1.107
0.929
1.934
1.028
9.460
1.148
4.732
0.866
3.241
5.580
12.026
20.601
4.810
0.925
0.839
No. Obs.
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
Minimum (ppm)
695.300
25.574
0.157
15.084
3.244
9.809
1.050
47.046
0.449
10.776
0.400
5534.900
3.184
172.250
1.252
1.343
133.030
1.154
0.260
19.214
31.560
140.920
280.400
0.975
36146.300
359.700
27934.300
Maximum(ppm)
734.400
26.311
0.295
19.172
3.317
10.466
1.172
48.721
0.480
11.105
0.435
5722.800
3.310
177.490
1.340
1.381
193.170
1.196
0.304
19.756
35.420
175.210
443.800
2.337
42198.900
369.950
28667.800
ANIDs of specimens included:
QP1001 QP1002 QP1003
QP2004 QP2005 QP3001
QP1004 QP1005 QP2001
QP3002 QP3003 QP3004
QP2002
QP3005
QP2003
Results
The NAA data on 27 elements from the 15 source
samples from the Cerro Hatunrangra outcrop near
Sacsamarca are shown in Table 1. Table 2 provides
the means and standard deviations of 30 obsidian arti-
facts previously assigned to Quispisisa, and a com-
parison of the two tables confirms that the two groups
are chemically identical. A bivariate plot of Cs vs.
Hf presented in Figure S illustrates the ease with
which the Quispisisa source can be distinguished
from other obsidian sources in Peru.
Discussion and Conclusions
The MURR analyses confirm that the Quispisisa
source is located in central Ayacucho in the Province
of Huanca Sancos, rather than 110 km to the north-
west near San Genaro in the Province of Castrovir-
reynea, Huancavelica. An important outcrop of the
Quispisisa obsidian deposit has been located near
Cerro Hatunrangra between the villages of Putajasa
and Sacsamarca, but future investigation to the north
may encounter additional outcrops andlor secondary
deposits of obsidian nodules in alluvial contexts.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the possibility of mul-
tiple outcrops scattered over 20 km or more (Figure
3), and more intensive geoarchaeological investiga-
tions, such as carried out in Mesoamerica (Braswell
and Glascock 1998; Glascocket al. 1998), are needed
to evaluate this possibility.
The identiElcation of the geological source of
Quispisisa obsidian has implications for Central
Andean prehistory too numerous to detail here, but
we will consider briefly the issues it raises for early
Central Andean prehistory. The degree of mobility
and the existence of trade networks for acquiring
access to unevenly distributed goods during the Pre-
ceramic has been the focus of much debate (e.g.,
MacNeish et al. 1975; Rick 1980), but because few
goods could be used as an index of interregional or
long-distance contact, much of this discussion per-
Table 2. Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges of Element Concentrations in Artifacts from Quispisisa Analyzed at MURR.
St. Dev. % St. Dev.
ANIDs of specimens included:
RLB007 RLB008 RLB009
s\v - t s\v - U s\ - v l l
RT R()37 R T .R()77
264 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 11, No. 3, 2000]
Element
BA
LA
LU
ND
SM
U
YB
CE
CO
CS
EU
FE
HF
RB
SB
SC
SR
TA
TB
TH
ZN
ZR
CL
DY
K
MN
NA
Mean (ppm)
735.120
27.773
0.250
18.089
3.375
11.643
1.171
50.533
0.489
11.025
0.430
5615.667
3.265
175.797
1.410
1.352
158.431
1.173
0.280
19.395
40.069
169.476
411.863
1.581
37037.193
363.011
28434.733
No. Obs.
30
30
30
29
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
Minimum (ppm)
699.900
26.762
0.151
14.230
3.167
9.779
1.039
48.518
0.451
10.659
0.376
5454.000
3.171
172.200
1.312
1.304
130.000
1.135
0.250
18.701
28.660
137.140
302.200
0.964
33434.400
329.100
26262.700
Maximum (ppm)
806.700
29.565
0.304
29.310
3.550
13.146
1.519
53.701
0.654
11.408
0.523
5994.600
3.388
182.200
1.526
1.398
222.700
1.250
0.358
20.051
74.200
214.910
757.700
2.224
42181.400
402.400
31303.800
23.275
0.651
0.052
3.386
0.107
0.970
0.098
1.206
0.043
0.198
0.024
111.149
0.068
2.648
0.059
0.020
23.472
0.027
0.021
0.326
7.995
18.212
102.842
0.295
2127.929
16.226
1231.559
3.166
2.343
20.672
18.719
3.177
8.327
8.350
2.386
8.826
1.793
5.473
1.979
2.075
1.506
4.161
1.481
14.815
2.272
7.465
1.679
19.954
10.746
24.970
18.647
5.745
4.470
4.331
RLBO10
RLBO18
RLB029
RLB01 1
RLB019
RLB030
RT sR()3R
RlB012
RlB022
RlB03 1
RLB013
RLB023
RLB032
RLBO 14
RLB025
RLB033
force has dealt with formal similarities in lithic style
and how such resemblances should be interpreted.
Inthe 1970s,TheAyacucho-HuantaArchaeological-
Botanical Project, directed by Richard S. MacNeish,
documented that obsidian was utilized occasionally
for tools beginning with the Ayacucho Phase occu-
pation, estimated by MacNeish et al. as spanning
13,000 BC to 11,000 B.C., and obsidian points,
scrapers, and other artifacts continued to be pro-
duced throughout the following phases of the Pre-
ceramic in Ayacucho (e.g., Lurie 1983:Tables 3-7).
An earlier study (Burger andAsaro 1978) determined
that the raw material for the Ayacucho obsidian arti-
facts had two chemical signatures (referred to in
1978 as Quispisisa and Ayacucho Type), and pre-
sumably it was coming from two geologic sources.
Only now can the significance of these results be
more fully appreciated. Of the 66 artifacts analyzed,
12% came from Puzolana source (referred to as the
Ayacucho Type in the 1978 study), which is found
immediately south of the modern city of Ayacucho
(Burger and Glascock 2000), 2u25 km from the four
Preceramic sites at which the obsidian artifacts were
encountered. Surprisingly, the remaining 88% of the
artifacts analyzed were made of obsidian brought
from the Quispisisa source, which now has been
located some 120 km to the south.
These findings are fascinating for a number of rea-
sons. First, they indicate that the major obsidian
deposit near Sacsamarca was discovered by the early
inhabitants of the Central Andes no later than 1 1,000
B.C. (calibrated 14C age). Given the rarity of obsid-
ian sources, this implies that the hunters and gather-
ers of the Central Andes already possessed a detailed
knowledge of the natural resources of the high grass-
lands and intermontane valleys of the Central Andes
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditionsl | | | w r g | | E s s
I I , i
12
REPORTS
265
0
(2\ Andahuaylas
\\ ) Type B
o
Jampatilla
00
o
ur
D
n
n
-
I
Alca
's+1
r
a)
o
4
6
2
8
10
14
Cs (ppm)
Figure 5. Bivariate plot of Hafnium versus Cesium concentrations for obsidian sources in southern Peru with 95 % con-
fildence ellipses surrounding each source group.
at this early date. This inference is paralleled by com-
parable evidence of the exploitation of the Alca
source of obsidian in the Cotahuasi Valley, Arequipa
by 13,000 to 11,000 calibrated 14c years before pre-
sent (Sandweiss et al. 1998).
A second interesting implication for earlyAndean
prehistory is that the dwellers of the Ayacucho Val-
ley between 11,000 and 2,000 B.C. acquired most
of their obsidian from a source over a hundred kilo-
meters to the south rather than from one that was
located only twenty kilometers away. Apparently,
the early residents of Ayacucho were not satisfied to
use the locally available Puzolana source, which
appears to include only small obsidian nodules usu-
ally 3 cm or less in size, but instead found ways to
procure obsidian from the more distant Quispisisa
source, where nodules frequently exceed 30 cm on
a side. A hundred kilometers is a considerable dis-
tance, particularly when compared to the constrlcted
seasonal rounds modeled by MacNeish (1983) for
the early inhabitants of Ayacucho or the procure-
ment zones modeled by Rick (1980) for the puna
inhabitants of Junin. Neither of these two models sug-
gest territories with a radius exceeding 10 km.
Clearly, acquisition of obsidian from the Quispisisa
source would have required social networks span-
ning the territories of several groups if direct access
was not the means of exploitation. If trips to the geo-
logic source were undertaken, it would suggest a sig-
nificant degree of mobility. However, the relatively
small quantities of obsidian present in each of the
phases of the early Ayacucho sequence would seem
to point to a down-the-line pattern of exchange rather
than direct exploitation.
The Ayacucho situation does not appear to be
anomalous. At two cave sites in Junin, Uchku-
machay, and Telarmachay, excavations recovered
obsidian, albeit in smaller quantities than encoun-
tered by MacNeish in Ayacucho. At Uchkumachay,
for example, at least one flake was recovered from
levels cross-dated to the Piki/Jaywa phases of the
Ayacucho sequence and others appeared in small
quantities in the Late Preceramic layers (Pires-Fer-
reira et al. 1976). In the San Pedro de Cajas area,
Andahuaylas
Type A
D
ChivayR
Quispisisa
Y
LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
[Vol. 1 1, No. 3, 2000]
266
* Quispisisa obsidian source
* Archaeological site with artifacts of Quispisisa source obsidian
X Archaeological site utilizing obsidian artifacts only from sources other than Quispisisa
Figure 6. Map illustrating the preeminence of the Quispisisa source obsidian at prehispanic archaeological sites in cen-
tral and northern Peru. Drawing by Rosemary Volpe.
some 35 km southeast of Pachamachay, Daniele
Lavallee recovered obsidian debitage in levels VI
and V inferior, dated to 9000-7200 B.P. and
6800-5700 B.P., respectively (Lavallee et al.
1995:47, 76). Similarly, DavidBrowman's survey in
the Jauja-Huancayo area found that the Preceramic
population of that area used obsidian for projectile
points during the middle and late Preceramic (Brow-
man 1970:89; MacNeish et al. 1975:2). Thus far,
only the obsidian artifacts from Uchkumachay have
REPORTS
267
been analyzed (Burger and Asaro 1978:82), but all
eight flakes from the Preceramic levels tested from
this site proved to have come from the Quispisisa
source, over 200 km to the south. It is likely that the
other early Junin obsidian likewise came from this
recently discovered source area. French archaeolo-
gist Daniele Lavallee has commented for Telarma-
chay that, "Its [obsidian's] presence even in minute
quantities is very important from a culture perspec-
tive because it proves the existence from the sixth
millennium B.C. of contacts or interregional
exchanges over long distances" (authors' translation)
(Lavallee et al. 1995:76). Based on the recent iden-
tification of the geologic source of the Quispisisa
obsidian, we now know that the obsidian had been
brought over long distances to the puna and valley
sites in the Department of Junin. These small
amounts of obsidian recovered in Preceramic cave
contexts in Junin are consistent with the presence of
down-the-line exchange linkages that transcended
the limits of local procurement zones.
By the mid-Preceramic (approximately 4,000
B.C.), obsidian artifacts from the Quispisisa source
appear 400 km away at the village site of Paloma in
the Chilca Valley on Peru's central coast (Robert
Benfer and Michael Glascock personal communi-
cation; Quilter 1989:36-37) and, by the late Prece-
ramic (approximately 2,500 B.C.), large quantities
of Quispisisa obsidian were being procured by the
south coast population at San Nicolas near the Nasca
drainage (Burger and Asaro 1978; Strong 1957:10;
Vescelius 1963). While these results do not fully con-
form to the extensive, early long-distance trade net-
works hypothesized by MacNeish and his colleagues
(1975), neither do they fit comfortably with the
model of highly circumscribed and isolated groups
exemplified by Rick's study of Pachamachay in Junin
(1980:332-333). The new obsidian data suggest the
need for reevaluating these old models.
In later times, the intra- and inter-regional
exchange of Quispisisa source obsidian increased as
the transport of bulk items by llama caravans became
widespread (Figure 6). While the procurement of
obsidian from the Quispisisa source characterized the
south-central highlands in which it was located, its
acquisition by groups beyond this area fluctuated
over time, reflecting changing political and cultural
patterns (Burger and Asaro 1977). Long-distance
exchange of Quispisisa obsidian was particularly
noteworthy during the Chavin horizon (approxi-
mately 500 300 B.C.) when cultural and economic
interaction flourished within the context of increased
religious linkages between centers. During this time,
Quispisisa obsidian replaced the locally available
raw materials at Chavin de Huantar, despite being
located some 590 km to the north of the source area
(Burger et al. 1984). Small quantities of obsidian
lithics made from the Quispisisa source obsidian
were even encountered at the coeval center of Paco-
pampa, 1,000 km from the Quispisisa deposit
(Burger 1984). Similarly, the expansion of the Wari
state and its influence during the Middle Horizon
resulted in the appearance of Quispisisa in Moche V
burials on Peru's north coast and at political and rit-
ual centers in the adjacent northern highlands of Hua-
machuco; both of these areas are nearly 800 km from
the geologic source of the volcanic glass (Burger
and Asaro 1979). With Inka expansion during the
Late Horizon, less than a century before the Span-
ish conquest, obsidian from Quispisisa was carried
into the Montecristo drainage on the forested east-
ern slopes of the Andes where centers like Gran
Pajaten are located (Burger, Church, and Glascock,
unpublished data).
In summary, the shifting patterns of obsidian pro-
curement from the Quispisisa source provide impor-
tant information on inter-regional and long-distance
prehispanic interaction in the CentralAndes, and the
belated identification of the geologic source of this
material will greatly facilitate these analyses. Nev-
ertheless, a detailed study of the full extent of the
Quispisisa source area and an investigation there of
the nature of prehistoric exploitation of the primary
and secondary deposits of the volcanic glass are still
urgently needed.
Acknowledgments: We are deeply grateful to those who have col-
laborated on the trips in search of obsidian, especially Bernadino
Ojeda, Jose Pinilla, Jose Ochatoma, and Guillermo Garcia, as
well as to friends and colleagues who provided unpublished
information that helped guide the project. We are also indebted
to Jay Ague (Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale Uni-
versity) for his insight into igneous deposits and to Ramiro Matos
Mendieta (National Museum of the American Indian, Smith-
sonian Institution) for his encouragement and assistance. Finally,
we acknowledge financial support for the fieldwork from Yale
University's Provostial Research Fund and funding for the lab-
oratory analysis from the National Science Foundation
Archaeometry Program Grant (SBR 9802366) to MURR. We also
want to express our appreciation to Rosemary Volpe for creating
the maps and to Sharon Rodriguez for assistance in the prepara-
tion of the manuscript.
Received March 20, 2000; accepted May 31, 2000; revised
June 6, 2000.
LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
[Vol. 11, No. 3, 2000]
268
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Locating the Quispisisa Obsidian Source in the Department of Ayacucho, Peru

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