Obsidian procurement, least cost path analysis, and social interaction in the Mimbres area of southwestern New Mexico

For over 15 years chemical compositional analyses of obsidian artifacts recovered from archaeological sites in the southwestern United States have been increasingly used to address many research agendas. Despite this increasing interest in obsidian studies, few have attempted to synthesize the ever-growing amount of data generated from the numerous projects being conducted in the southwest. Here, we synthesize and present data for 923 sourced obsidian samples recovered from over 80 archaeological sites in the Mimbres area of southwestern New Mexico. We then use least cost path analysis as a means of investigating procurement patterns as well as networks of social interaction within the region.