Obsidian use in Mesoamerica: Encyclopedia II - Obsidian use in Mesoamerica - Value

Obsidian use in Mesoamerica - Value

Obsidian was widely distributed throughout Mesoamerica by trade. Its importance to Mesoamerican societies has been compared to the value and importance of steel to modern civilization. However, archeology provides varied evidence of the individual value placed on obsidian. For example during the Formative period, obsidian was a rare item in the lowland areas, found predominately in elite and ritual contexts. In many Maya excavations evidence of obsidian is likewise found most frequently in privileged settings; as the Late Classic period progressed, obsidian changed from an elite item to one found in abundance among the lower classes of Maya civilization. Nevertheless, the Maya elite continued to remain in possession of the more prestigious Teotihuacan green obsidian.

In the Teotihuacan culture obsidian was perhaps traded at a loss of human effort in transport across long distances. The profit from the trade was prestigious elite items received in return. Obsidian has both been seen as a key element to Teotihuacan's rise to power and as a side trade element that simply augmented their already developing wealth. Obsidian is a part of many elite items such as valuable ear-spools, but these obsidian ear-spools have been discovered in exclusively non-elite settings. Thus the value of obsidian can be considered highly variable. It was an important trade item, but found in both elite and common settings, unlike many items whose ownership was confined to the elite. Finally, there is no indication that obsidian was used as a currency in Mesoamerica.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Value", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki