The researchers described the obsidian tools they found as smaller, of better quality, and more specialized than larger stone tools used by earlier human species.
" ... obsidian, " said the other man in the room, a pale, fleshy, pasty-faced young fellow with round shoulders, soft hands, close-set eyes, and food stains on his robes.
" Obsidian" . Sam struggled to his knees. " Dragonglass, they call it. Dragonglass. Dragon glass" . He giggled, and cried, and doubled over to heave his courage out onto the snow.
Sam had almost forgotten about the wildlings, so much had happened since. " The children of the forest used dragonglass blades, " he said. " They'd know where to find obsidian" .
Obtaining obsidian was a core part of the Olmecs' trade during their entire civilization, although it later expanded to include luxury items like jade and animal pelts for the elite.
Traders ferried in flint and obsidian from Guatemala and " artisans were able to model stucco in a very advanced stylistic manner, " says archaeologist Carlos Miguel Varela Sherrer, field chief of the site.