In Andean archaeology, it is stylistic evidence that form the basis for many investigations of long-distance relationships

and evidence of regional interaction. From hunter-gatherer projectile point type distributions to evidence of expansive

states like Wari and Tiwanaku, the basis of much of the inference regarding prehistory in the Andes is stylistic

relationships in workmanship, architecture, or iconography. In the past fifty years chemical characterization studies have

permitted a second basic form of regional evidence to emerge: provenancing studies.

Provenancing studies complement stylistic evidence because chemical provenance provides unqualified evidence of

contact between two regions. With provenancing studies: We know that a material was transported from one area to

another, we just don’t necessarily know much about how it got there, or who brought it, except through context. So stylistic

approaches and chemical provenancing complement one another in allowing us to describe the prehistoric geography of

cultural influences and economic relationships. In this presentation, I will discuss our research at the Chivay obsidian

source and some of the implications of Chivay obsidian distributions in the prehistory of the south-central Andes.