A Study of Olmec Serpentinite: exchange, production, distribution, and consumption during the Early and Middle Formative period in Mesoamerica

Olaf Jaime-Riverón1, Dolores Tenorio Castilleros2, Thomas Calligaro3 and Juan Carlos Cruz Ocampo4

1. University of Kentucky, Department of Anthropology. Email: olaf.jaime-riveron@uky.edu
2. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Mexico. Email: dolores.tenorio@inin.gob.mx
3. Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, UMR 171, Palais du Louvre - Porte des Lions 14, Quai Fronçois Miterrand, 75001 Paris, France. Email: thomas.calligaro@culture.gov.fr
4. Facultad de Ingeniería, División de Ciencias de la Tierra, UNAM, Mexico. Email: jcarlos70@hotmail.com

Summary

This article presents recent results of our analysis of the operative sequence of production and consumption of Olmec greenstone artefacts. It documents the multi-disciplinary approach taken to the kinds of manufacturing techniques used by the Olmecs, the quarries where they extracted raw materials, and the contexts in which they sometimes buried their tools. This project uses implement petrography, energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), neutron activation analysis (NAA), and particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE).

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