Local versus non‐local obsidian exchange at Tula and its implications for post‐formative Mesoamerica

The availability of archaeological data pertaining to a number of contexts of exchange including raw material procurement, production and local and non‐local consumption, permit an integrated examination of obsidian exchange involving the Epiclassic/Early Postclassic site of Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico. These data provide evidence of limited production for local exchange and evidence of what may have been substantial long‐distance exchange involving Tula and sites in northern Yucatan. Models of local and non‐local exchange based in part upon ethnohistorical data from Aztec times provide some means of accommodating these unexpected and somewhat contradictory results. The implications of these models for post‐Formative obsidian exchange in Mesoamerica are examined.