Archaeology of Teotihuacan, Mexico
All
projectile points were made of obsidian. Projectile points in various sizes
and forms (Photo) were found in almost all graves at the Feathered Serpent
Pyramid. Many of them were found in clusters below, above, and between
individuals. Others were individually discovered dispersed around persons
who were interred close to one another. Projectile points found outside
the pyramid were well preserved, while those found inside the pyramid were
often fragmented and dispersed due to the placement of rocks over the burials.
In
a quantitative and morphological classification, four types of projectile
points were suggested by variables, length, weight, color, and the shape
of the wing. In the plot made by length and weight, two major groups are
clearly represented. The group of large projectile points (more than 45
mm long and 4 g weight) was subdivided into three types (A, B, and C) by
the shape of the wing. Type A was defined as those with concave wing edges
and protuberances at the side ends. Type B points have convex wing edges
while type C points have smoothly bowed edges. The small points, referred
to as type D, comprised another one group, since the form of the wings
is irregular and their differences are minimal in many cases.
More than 1,267 projectile points have been recovered from graves found at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. In addition, twenty-eight projectile points were discovered by the our project in front of the staircase of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid as caches or as grave offerings removed from their original contexts. The numbers of projectile points deposited in the looted graves (Graves 12 and 13) are unknown. However, fragments found in the disturbed layers of the graves and in the looters' tunnel indicate that both also had contained many projectile points. Grave 13 seems to have had more than 100 points, while Grave 12 contained, in the second burial context corresponding to the FSP, at least tens of projectile points. In both graves, types A and B were dominant.
