By linking obsidian artifacts to their original source, archaeologists can elucidate ancient Maya trade networks and examine changes in the frequency of source attribution, highlighting shifting social, political, and economic affiliations (Aoyama Reference Aoyama2017; Golitko et al. Reference Golitko, Meierhoff, Feinman and Williams2012). Multiple methods of procurement, distribution, and exchange coexisted across Mesoamerica (De León et al. Reference De León, Hirth and Carballo2009; Hutson Reference Hutson, Demarest, Freidel and Masson2020), and sourcing studies are an important step in disentangling quarrying, tool production, exchange, and use. As all geological sources of obsidian are located outside the Maya lowlands, people transported it from outcrops primarily in Guatemala and Mexico. Obsidian blades have sharp cutting edges suited for tasks like cutting, perforating, and scraping, as well as ritual bloodletting (Braswell Reference Braswell2013). Several integrative studies have investigated obsidian trade routes over broad regional and temporal scales, providing an indispensable understanding of the dynamic relationships that drive exchange (Braswell Reference Braswell, Smith and Berdan2003; Golitko et al. Reference Golitko, Meierhoff, Feinman and Williams2012; Stark et al. Reference Stark2016). These important studies build on the work of scholars who investigate site-specific or subregional obsidian exchange and consumption including Aoyama (Reference Aoyama2017), Beckwith (2013), Dreiss and colleagues (Reference Dreiss, Brown, Hester and Glascock1993), Haines and Glascock (Reference Haines, Glascock and Guderjan2016), and Moholy-Nagy and colleagues (Reference Moholy-Nagy, Meierhoff, Golitko and Kestle2013). These localized studies construct our geographic and temporal understanding of obsidian exchange and demonstrate that procurement, distribution, and exchange patterns can vary even at small scales.
This work contributes to the special section “The Archaeology and Landscapes of the Southeastern Three Rivers Adaptive Region of the Maya Lowlands” (see Houk et al. Reference Houk, Thompson and Novotny2026). This report presents results from an analysis of 507 obsidian artifacts from three sites in northwestern Belize: Chan Chich, Gallon Jug, and Kaxil Uinic (Figure 1). Obsidian sources are identified using portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (hereafter pXRF). The results reveal that prior to the Late Classic period (AD 600–810), Chan Chich residents had limited overlap in the obsidian transport networks that supplied their northern neighbors in the Three Rivers adaptative region (TRR), including La Milpa, Dos Hombres, and Blue Creek. Instead, their founding elite acquired most obsidian from San Martín Jilotepeque in the Late Preclassic (400 BC–AD 250) and Ixtepeque in the Early Classic (AD 250–600; Figure 2). As the Chan Chich settlement expanded in the Late Classic period, obsidian consumption changed: El Chayal became the predominant source, some blades were knapped locally, and Mexican obsidian entered circulation.
Map of Three Rivers adaptive region showing sites mentioned in the text. Map by Amy E. Thompson. (Color online)
Figure 1 Long description
The map depicts the Three Rivers adaptive region in northwestern Belize, highlighting several archaeological sites. Key locations include Chan Chich, Gallon Jug, Kaxil Uinic, Blue Creek, La Milpa, Dos Hombres, Buenavista del Cayo, Colha, Ceibal and Kaminaljuyu. The map features the Rio Bravo river running through the region. A scale bar indicates distances in kilometers, ranging from 0 to 10 km. The inset map shows the Caribbean Sea and additional sites, providing a broader geographical context. The map includes a compass rose indicating north.
Map of sources mentioned in the text and Chan Chich. Base map images are the intellectual property of Esri. (Color online)
Figure 2 Long description
The map displays various obsidian sources across Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Obsidian sources are marked with blue circles and include El Chayal, Ixtepeque, San Martín Jilotepeque, Ucareo, Zaragoza, and Zacualtipán. The archaeological site of Chan Chich is marked with a red diamond. . The map includes a scale bar showing distances of 250 km and 500 km and a directional arrow pointing north.
The Artifacts
The Belize Estates Archaeological Survey Team (BEAST) collected the obsidian artifacts in this study in 1997 and between 2012 and 2022 from three sites in the southeastern TRR in northwestern Belize (Figure 1). More information on the background and research history of these sites can be found in the introduction to this special section (Houk et al. Reference Houk, Thompson and Novotny2026). Previously, Shackley (Reference Shackley and Houk1998) analyzed a sample of 10 obsidian artifacts from Chan Chich using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF); his results are included in Table 1. Most artifacts in the assemblage come from Chan Chich (n = 467) due to the project’s long-standing focus on this site, but artifacts from Gallon Jug (n = 18) and Kaxil Uinic (n = 22) are also present.
Source Assignment by Site and Period.
Table 1 Long description
Counts of assigned sources are broken out by site and time period, with a column for each identified obsidian source and one column for unassigned specimens. Totals are provided by temporal period (Late Preclassic, Early Classic, Late Classic, or “N/A” for specimens without a chronological assignment). Dashes indicate no recorded specimens for that source and period. Of the 477 specimens from Chan Chich, there are 49 in the Late Preclassic period, 21 from the Early Classic period, 374 from the Late Classic period, and 33 unassigned specimens.. Gallon Jug has no Late Preclassic specimens, one Early Classic specimen from Ixtepeque, 13 Late Classic specimens from El Chayal, and two unassigned. Kaxil Uinic has no Late Preclassic or Early Classic artifacts, 16 Late Classic artifacts, and 6 unassigned. .
Note: ELC = El Chayal; IXT = Ixtepeque; SMJ = San Martín Jilotepeque; PAC = Pachuca; TUL = Tulancingo; UCA = Ucareo; ZAC = Zacualtipán; UNA = Unassigned.
The obsidian artifacts were recovered from a variety of contexts spanning the Preclassic to Classic periods, including elite residences and temples, public plazas, processual architecture, a marketplace, and households. Most are blades (80.3%), but the assemblage includes debitage, bifaces, polyhedral core fragments, and unifaces. The range of excavation contexts represents burials, caches, construction fill, and surface finds (Supplementary TMaterial 1; Degnan and Houk Reference Degnan and Houk2025).
Methods
The 507 obsidian artifacts were analyzed using an Olympus Vanta M Series pXRF analyzer set to GeoChem mode. This instrument has a sensitive large area silicon drift detector and a 50 kV X-ray tube with a Rh anode (Evident 2022). Each specimen was exposed to the heavy element beam for 10 seconds and light element beam for 20 seconds and a reference standard was analyzed at regular intervals throughout testing. The resulting compositional data are compared to regional obsidian samples loaned by the Archaeometry Laboratory at the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) and analyzed with the same Vanta instrument (Figure 3). Source group assignments were made through inspection of bivariate plots and principal component analysis (PCA) of elements Mn, Fe, Rb, Sr, and Zr. These groups were verified using Mahalanobis distance (MD) probabilities (probability ≥1.0%; Degnan and Houk Reference Degnan and Houk2025). Low group sizes prevent cross-validation techniques, so groups with less than four specimens were excluded. For a detailed review of all methods, see Supplementary Material 1.
Bivariate plot of Rb/Zr by Sr/Zr for reference dataset (labeled) and study data (gray). (Color online)
Figure 3 Long description
The scatter plot displays the relationship between Sr over Zr and Rb over Zr. The x-axis represents Rb over Zr, while the y-axis represents Sr over Zr. The plot includes labeled clusters representing different source groups, such as San Martín Jilotepeque, Cerro Varal and Pico de Orizaba, among others. The reference dataset is labeled, in color, and in various shapes while the study data is shown in grey squares. The plot compares the elemental ratios of the study data to various geological samples, highlighting areas of overlap . The plot provides insight into the variability of element ratios in different geological contexts.
Results
The first three principal components account for 91.6% of total variation (Figure 4). The first component is driven by variation in Sr, Zr, and Fe, which best distinguishes Sierra de Pachuca (“Pachuca”) and Tulancingo and separates Ixtepeque from other Guatemalan sources. Although this component accounts for the largest share of variance (40.2%), the second component, driven by Sr, Mn, and Rb, explains an additional 35.1%. When plotted with the third component, driven by Sr and Mn, El Chayal, Ucareo, and Zacualtipán are clearly separated. Following MD validation, 500 specimens were assigned final source designations that all aligned with their initial assignment. Due to low group sizes, specimens assigned to Pachuca, Tulancingo, Ucareo, and Zacualtipán were excluded from MD validation. However, their Sr/Zr ratios align with other Mexican sources, supporting their classifications. Given their limited representation in the assemblage, inferences are restricted to their general origin in Central Mexico, rather than the specific volcanic source.
PCA biplots showing (a) PCA loadings for components 1 and 2, (b) Components 1 and 2 with final source assignments following MD verification, (c) PCA loadings for components 2 and 3, and (d) Components 2 and 3 with final source assignments following MD verification. (Color online)
Figure 4 Long description
The image consists of four panels displaying scatter plots related to PCA components. Panel (a) shows PCA loadings for components 1 and 2. The x-axis represents Component 1 which accounts for 40.2 percent of variance and the y-axis represents Component 2 which accounts for 35.1 percent of variance. Elements like Sr, Zr, Fe, Rb and Mn are indicated with arrows showing their influence on the components. Panel (b) displays a scatter plot of Components 1 and 2 with final source assignments. Different symbols and colors represent artifacts assigned to sources such as El Chayal, Ixtepeque, San Martín Jilotepeque, Pachuca, Tulancingo, Ucareo, Zacualtipán and Unassigned. Clusters are visible among the sources. Panel (c) shows PCA loadings for components 2 and 3. The x-axis is Component 2 (35.1 percent) and the y-axis is Component 3 (16.3 percent). Influences of Sr, Zr, Fe, Rb and Mn are depicted. Panel (d) presents a scatter plot of Components 2 and 3 with final source assignments. The x-axis is Component 2 (35.1 percent) and the y-axis is Component 3 (16.3 percent). The same sources are represented with distinct symbols and colors, showing separation and clustering. The legend explains the symbols and colors used for each source category.
Residents of the study sites acquired obsidian from seven sources: El Chayal, Ixtepeque, and San Martín Jilotepeque in highland Guatemala; Pachuca, Tulancingo, and Zacualtipán in Hidalgo, Mexico; and Ucareo in Michoacán, Mexico (Table 1). Obsidian trade networks varied throughout the Preclassic and Classic periods. In the Preclassic period, Chan Chich residents acquired most obsidian from San Martín Jilotepeque (65%), while in the Early Classic period Ixtepeque became the principal source (82%). El Chayal constitutes most Late Classic obsidian (86%), and it is during this period that Mexican sources entered circulation. Given that the sample sizes at Gallon Jug and Kaxil Uinic are small and limited to the Late Classic period, the following discussion focuses on artifacts from Chan Chich.
Discussion
The size of the Chan Chich assemblage and the long temporal span it represents enable a diachronic inspection of obsidian consumption at this site. The earliest obsidian date to the Late Preclassic period, concurrent with emerging political complexity at Chan Chich signaled by monumental architecture and an early divine king (Houk et al. Reference Houk, Thompson and Novotny2026). Most Preclassic obsidian comes from San Martín Jilotepeque (Figure 5), and nearly all specimens were found in the Upper Plaza acropolis. At Ceibal, Guatemala, where San Martín Jilotepeque was also the primary source during the Late Preclassic (91%), Aoyama (Reference Aoyama2017) recalls Braswell’s (Reference Braswell, Garraty and Stark2010) explanation that the Kaqchikel region surrounding San Martín Jilotepeque had an open exchange network during this period. Aoyama argues that Kaminaljuyu restricted access to El Chayal through its bounded network system, making San Martín Jilotepeque obsidian easier to acquire. Yet El Chayal obsidian was not restricted in the TTR: the Preclassic assemblages at Blue Creek, La Milpa, and Dos Hombres each have more than 80% El Chayal obsidian (Beckwith 2013; Haines and Glascock Reference Haines, Glascock and Guderjan2016). Chan Chich is just south of Dos Hombres along the Río Bravo, yet its residents accessed different trade routes than those supplying the northern TRR sites. At Ceibal and the other TRR sites, the primary source accounts for 80%–100% of the assemblages and tertiary sources are rare, perhaps reflecting established or near-exclusive trade relationships. Each Guatemalan source is at least 12% of the Chan Chich assemblage, which may reflect more decentralized access to obsidian, as institutional trade networks were still being established.
Map of Chan Chich site core showing Late Classic distribution of sources by context: (1) Courtyard D-4; (2) Eastern processual architecture; (3) Ball court; (4) Back Plaza; (5) Upper Plaza; (6) Main Plaza; (7) Structure A-5; (8) North Plaza; (9) Norman’s Temple; (10) Western processual architecture. Pie charts sizes are scaled by sample size. Base map by Amy E. Thompson. (Color online)
Figure 5 Long description
The image consists of two panels summarizing the distribution of obsidian sources at Chan Chich. Panel A is a map of the Chan Chich site core showing the Late Classic distribution of obsidian sources across various contexts. Locations are numbered: (1) Courtyard D-4, (2) Eastern processual architecture, (3) Ball court, (4) Back Plaza, (5) Upper Plaza, (6) Main Plaza, (7) Structure A-5, (8) North Plaza, (9) Norman’s Temple, (10) Western processual architecture. Pie charts at each location represent the proportion of obsidian sources, scaled by sample size. Panel B contains a legend with four obsidian source groups: El Chayal, Ixtepeque, San Martín Jilotepeque and all Mexican sources combined. It also contains pie charts showing the proportion of obsidian sources for artifacts from the Upper Plaza obsidian across the Late Classic, Early Classic and Late Preclassic periods. The map scale is provided in meters, indicating distances between locations.
In the Early Classic, El Chayal became the principal obsidian source across the southern lowlands and persisted as such at La Milpa, Blue Creek, and Dos Hombres (Aoyama Reference Aoyama2017; Beckwith 2013; Golitko et al. Reference Golitko, Meierhoff, Feinman and Williams2012). However, most of the Chan Chich assemblage is from Ixtepeque (81%), though again this sample is limited to Upper Plaza contexts. While El Chayal and San Martín Jilotepeque obsidian likely traveled overland and through interior rivers, Ixtepeque obsidian also traveled using the Motagua River to the Caribbean Sea and then northward along the coast (Golitko et al. Reference Golitko, Meierhoff, Feinman and Williams2012). Ixtepeque obsidian has been found in high concentrations at many island or proximate coastal sites during the Classic period, such as Colha (Dreiss et al. Reference Dreiss, Brown, Hester and Glascock1993).
In the Late Classic period, Chan Chich joined a collective of other lowland settlements—including TRR sites—where El Chayal was predominant and Mexican sources were common in low concentrations (Beckwith 2013; Golitko et al. Reference Golitko, Meierhoff, Feinman and Williams2012; Haines and Glascock Reference Haines, Glascock and Guderjan2016). Chan Chich expanded notably during the Late Classic period, and consequently, this portion of the assemblage is the largest and has the most varied contexts. An overview of source distribution by context affirms several trends noted by other researchers. Driess and colleagues (Reference Dreiss, Brown, Hester and Glascock1993) found that Ixtepeque was more concentrated in domestic and utilitarian contexts at Colha. At Chan Chich, Ixtepeque is the secondary source in all contexts except the Upper Plaza (Figure 5a). However, Moholy-Nagy and colleagues (Reference Moholy-Nagy, Meierhoff, Golitko and Kestle2013) and Haines and Glascock (Reference Haines, Glascock and Guderjan2016) noted El Chayal is predominant in ritual and elite contexts, consistent with a Late Classic cache of 19 blades in the Upper Plaza from El Chayal. The Upper Plaza is the only location with a substantial presence of San Martín Jilotepeque obsidian in the Late Classic period. Meanwhile, all Mexican obsidian from sealed contexts are associated with processual architecture, like the sacbeob and nearby shrines. Another notable Late Classic development was the first concrete evidence of blade production at Chan Chich. Six core rejuvenation flakes, all from El Chayal, were recovered from the North Plaza marketplace (Degnan et al. Reference Degnan, Houk, Murphy and Novotny2023). This mirrors trends at other Late Classic marketplaces; at Buenavista del Cayo, obsidian production debris from the marketplace in the East Plaza has also been sourced to El Chayal (Cap Reference Cap, Feinman and Riebe2022).
Conclusion
This study provides a diachronic window into ancient Maya exchange as seen at one settlement from its inception as a small village in the Preclassic, through the development of early kingship in the Early Classic, and to its expansion into a medium-sized urban center in the Late Classic period. During the earlier periods, the inhabitants of Chan Chich had distinct exchange networks compared to those living farther north in the TRR. This changed in the Late Classic period, when most obsidian in the TRR was from El Chayal and at least some of it was knapped locally at Chan Chich. Future investigation into artifact form and functional context may further elucidate the complicated and dynamic exchange networks in operation at Chan Chich. While obsidian is only one component of many in the ancient Maya economy, the patterns noted here may reflect other differences within the TRR, including other exchange networks, political relationships, and patterns of mobility.
Acknowledgments
This research was conducted under a permit issued by the Belizean Institute of Archaeology to Brett A. Houk. Gallon Jug Ranch grants BEAST permission to work on their land. Texas Tech University supplied the pXRF used in this study. Brett A. Houk, Tera Stocking, Anna DesHotels, Leanne Castillo, and Gabby Blowers assisted with obsidian analysis. The Archaeometry Laboratory at MURR provided the comparative source samples through a National Science Foundation grant (Award Number 2208558). Finally, this manuscript was improved upon by conversations with and comments from Brett A. Houk, Amy E. Thompson, Richard J. George, and Emily C. Kracht, along with thoughtful feedback from three anonymous reviewers.
Funding Statement
Funding for this research was provided to Brett A. Houk by the Alphawood Foundation through a grant and by the NSF (Award Number 2051377) through a subaward.
Data Availability Statement
Additional contextual and methodological information is included in Supplementary Material 1. Supporting data tables are uploaded to the Texas Data Repository.
Competing Interests
The author declares none.
Supplementary Material
The supplementary material for this article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2026.10197.
Supplementary Material 1. Additional contextual and methodological information (text).
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