Several theories have been proposed for the use of obsidian blades discovered at the Olmec site of San Lorenzo. One theory is that the blades were used by social elites as a means of establishing their dominance over the non-elites (Clark 1987). An alternative theory is that social status had little to do with the acquisition and distribution of prismatic blades and that the blades indicate a domestic economy model (De León 2008). This thesis applies a geographic approach using GIS to new data from San Lorenzo and seeks to examine a possible relationship between elite social status and obsidian blade location.