Regional Importance

Regional archaeological evidence demonstrates that Quispisisa-type was exploited as early as the Archaic Period.  By the first millennium BCE, Quispisisa obsidian was widely distributed in the interaction network associated with the Chavín phenomenon, reaching sites as distant as Pacopampa, nearly 1000 linear km from the source (see, for some examples, Burger and Asaro 1977).  During the Middle Horizon the Wari Empire made extensive use of obsidian from this source.