Various studies in the past have utilized a costly signaling model to understand the
importance of foreign goods. With few exceptions, stone tools have been ignored in the
discussion. Sourcing studies of lithic industries have often failed to acknowledge the social
benefits of such trade for utilitarian objects that are also locally available with presumably
lower acquisition costs. The Postclassic Aztatl�n center of San Felipe Aztat�n in Nayarit,
Mexico is a particularly compelling case study for such an investigation. Here, both local and�…