Abstract :
Many Tarascan settlements surrounded Lake Patzcuaro in Michoacan, Mexico, during the Late Postclassic period. A hierarchy of
settlements existed from the capital of Tzintzuntzan to secondary administration sites and small tributary communities. Obsidian
artifacts from the large site, Erongaricuaro, have been studied by the author. Analysis of the obsidian from this site highlighted particular
patterns in the production and consumption of prismatic blades and large scrapers. Data from another site, Urichu, was collected
and analyzed more recently. Urichu was a tributary center to Erongaricuaro during the Tarascan empire. Local and state elites inhabited
both sites, and analysis of obsidian manufacture indicates that the sites may have had different functions. Obsidian from the sites
also varies by source location. This too may indicate site function and the changing sociopolitical organization of obsidian production and
use throughout the Tarascan empire.
