Chivay obsidian source

The Chivay obsidian source (71.5355° S, 15.6423° W, 4972 masl) is the geological origin of a chemical group of obsidian that is found throughout the south-central Andean highlands including southern Peru, western Bolivia, and northern Chile. Chemical characterization studies using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) have shown that the Chivay obsidian source, also known as the Cotallalli type or the Titicaca Basin type, makes up over 90% of the obsidian artifacts analyzed from the Lake Titicaca Basin.

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Obsidian from the Chivay source is found in large and homogeneous nodules in a high altitude volcanic depression approximately ten km to the east of the town of Chivay in the Colca Valley (Caylloma, Arequipa, Peru). Obsidian production at the Chivay source and evidence from the adjacent puna grassland and valley areas were the subject of a Ph.D. dissertation research project (Tripcevich 2007).

Consumption sites

Obsidian from the Chivay source has been chemically identified among artifacts from over fifty sites in the south-central Andes. Chivay obsidian was the predominant type found at the Archaic and Formative site of Jiskairumoko on the western side of Lake Titicaca in the Ilave Valley of Puno, Peru.

References

• Brooks, Sarah O.; Michael D. Glascock & Martin Giesso (1997), " ", Nature 376: 449-450
• Burger, Richard L.; Frank Asaro & Guido Salas et al. (1998), " ", Andean Past 5: 203-223
• Burger, Richard L.; Karen L. Mohr-Chávez & Sergio J. Chávez (2000), " ", Journal of World Prehistory 14 (3): 267-362
• Giesso, Martin (2000), , Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago
• Giesso, Martin (2003), , written at Washington, D.C., , Smithsonian Institution Press, 363-383
• Palacios, O.; J. de la Cruz & N. de la Cruz et al. (1993), , Boletín No. 42, República del Perú, Sector Energía y Metalúrgico, Lima
• Shackley, Steve M. (2005), written at Tucson, , University of Arizona Press
• Tripcevich, Nicholas (2007), , Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara.,

Coordinates: 71°32′08″S 15°38′32″W / -71.5355, -15.6423