Archaeology of Teotihuacan, Mexico
A
major portion of the obsidian knives and other bifacial forms were found
in the central area of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. In total, 200 complete
or semi-complete bifaces, and 26 fragments were found in Grave 14. Ten
complete or semi-complete bifaces and 2 fragments were discovered in Grave
13, which had been disturbed by looters. Twenty-six complete or semi-complete
bifaces and 15 fragments were found on the floors of the looters' tunnel.
The majority of the last group seems to have originally belonged to Grave
13 (The photo shows type A Biface).
The
bifaces found by our project were classified into four basic categories.
Type A consisted of large and wide bifacial knives with a point at each
end. One complete example measured 20 cm long and 5.5 cm wide and was 1.2
cm thick (previous photo). Type B is S-curved narrow bifacial knives with
a point at one end and a stem at the other (except for the first one, objects
in photo left). Type C included straight narrow bifacials with a point
at one end and a stem at the other (The uppermost one in photo left).Type
D was composed of needle-like straight bifacials with a sharp point at
each end (photo right). The last categories may be divided further as the
length and width varies greatly, although the form and applied technique
for pieces in this category are similar one from others.
