"Obsidian was long valued by ancient peoples as a raw material for producing stone tools, and archaeologists have increasingly come to view obsidian studies as a crucial aid in understanding the past. Steven Shackley now shows how the geochemical and contextual analyses of archaeological obsidian can be applied to the interpretation of social and economic organization in the ancient Southwest." "This book, the capstone of decades of investigation, integrates a wealth of obsidian research in one volume. It covers advances in analytical chemistry and field petrology that have enhanced our understanding of obsidian source heterogeneity, presents the most recent data on and interpretations of archaeological obsidian sources in the Southwest, and explores the ethnohistorical and contemporary background for obsidian use in indigeneous societies."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-242) and index.

Pt. I. Geology, methods, and the sources of archaeological obsidian 1. "Little black rocks in the desert" : an introduction 2. Obsidian petrology and geologic history 3. Obsidian sources : geology, geography, and archaeology 4. Beyond a "fishing expedition" : laboratory and field strategies for the discovery and analysis of archaeological obsidian in the southwest Pt. II. Archaeology, history, and application

5. Obsidian in ethnohistory and the public imagination 6. Range and procurement in the preceramic southwest 7. Migration, ethnicity, and external relationships in the classic period Tonto basin 8. Gender and social identity during the Hohokam Sacaton phase 9. Obsidian studies in a twenty-first-century southwestern archaeology App. Elemental concentrations for unpublished sources of archaeological obsidian in the southwest and instrument conditions for analysis.