Under the direction of Dr. Dan Healan, MS Christine Hernandez will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. For several years with National Science Foundation support Dr. Healan has conducted archaeological excavation in the Zinapecuaro region of Central Mexico. What makes this area important are its abundant deposits of high quality obsidian (volcanic glass). Because this material may be worked to produce sharp edges it was highly prized raw material for tools in pre-metal times. Evidence to date indicates that Zinapecuaro obsidian was traded over a wide region and that patterns of exchange varied over time. Dr. Healan and his colleagues have excavated in a number of mining and production areas and collected large amounts of material. The problem they now face is dating each occurrence. Luckily numerous ceramic remains have been recovered and because ceramic styles change over time analysis of them provides a fruitful approach. MS Hernandez will travel to Mexico and study these ceramic materials. Applying a standard type variety approach in conjunction with stratigraphic information, she will seriate these materials to establish a sequence. Through the identification of exotic or foreign potsherds she will tie the local sequence into a broader inter-regional context. Finally she will study how inter-regional relationships developed and changed over time. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide a chronological sequence which many archaeologists can use for a variety of goals. It will shed light on the economic and political relationships between societies at a relatively simple level of development and elucidate the ways in which they interact. It will also assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
