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.
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
Other pages about Archaeological sites in Peru
-Aspero -Buena Vista, Peru -Cahuachi -Carajia -Caral -Chankillo -Chivay Obsidian Source -Cumbe Mayo -Cusco -Gran Pajaten -Gran Saposoa -Gran Vilaya -Huayna Picchu -Inca road system -Jiskairumoko -Kuntur Wasi -List of Norte Chico sites -Llactapata -Lord of Sipan -Los Pinchudos -Machu Picchu -Moray (Inca ruin) -Nazca -Nazca Lines -Paijan -Pikimachay -Revash's mausoleums -Sarcofagi of Carajia -Sipan -Temple of the Moon -Tucume Pyramids -Wari ruins -Winay Wayna
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Chivay_Obsidian_Source
