Rates of Obsidian Utilization In Central Mexico and on the South Gulf Coast

This paper presents a series of estimates of the rate at which obsidian was used in domestic contexts in two regions of Mesoamerica. Rates of usage are found to have been remarkably low for all time periods, although there does appear to be a trend for consumption rates to increase with time. Rates of consumption at sites in the obsidian source region in Central Mexico and in areas such as the Tuxtlas Mountains which obtained lit hies by long-distance exchange are also found to have been very similar. Implications for the scale of long-distance exchange systems are also discussed.