Can I get chips with that? Sourcing small obsidian artifacts down to microdebitage scales with portable XRF

Frahm, Ellery

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.08.032

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Figure 11A is a scatter plot of Zr/Rb versus Sr/Rb, showing the obsidian sources that match the analysed artefacts. These source attributions are principally based on ratios between the so-called “mid-Z” elements (i.e., Rb to Nb), which yield reliable values for irregular, small, or weathered obsidian artefacts (see Frahm, 2016, and references therein). Out of 736 artefacts (72.8% of Assemblages A and B), 715 (97.1%) matched sources in the GVC, within which the site is located (see Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for Middle Palaeolithic occupation and landscape change in central Armenia at the open-air site of Alapars-1

Malinsky-Buller¹,

Glauberman

Wilkinson

et al. 2020

Quat. res.

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Here we report the findings from excavations at the open-air Middle Palaeolithic site of Alapars-1 in central Armenia. Three stratified Palaeolithic artefact assemblages were found within a 6-m-thick alluvial-aeolian sequence, located on the flanks of an obsidian-bearing lava dome. Combined sedimentological and chronological analyses reveal three phases of sedimentation and soil development. During Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages 5–3, the manner of deposition changes from alluvial to aeolian, with a development of soil horizons. Techno-typological analysis and geochemical sourcing of the obsidian artefacts reveal differential discard patterns, source exploitation, and artefact densities within strata, suggesting variability in technological organization during the Middle Palaeolithic. Taken together, these results indicate changes in hominin occupation patterns from ephemeral to more persistent in relation to landscape dynamics during the last interglacial and glacial periods in central Armenia.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for Middle Palaeolithic occupation and landscape change in central Armenia at the open-air site of Alapars-1

Malinsky-Buller¹,

Glauberman

Wilkinson

et al. 2020

Quat. res.

Self Cite

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“…Nonetheless, we attempted an analysis of one of these flakes because of recent successes in the pXRF analysis of specimens that are as thin as 1 mm of basalt (Lundblad et al . ) and obsidian (Frahm ). The flake in question from PAR01 (specimen i.d.…”

Section: Methods Of Chemical Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemical Variability in the Paredón Obsidian Source, Puebla and Hidalgo, Mexico: A Preliminary Assessment and Inter‐Laboratory Comparison

et al. 2017

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Chemical characterization reveals intra-source variation in obsidian from the Paredón source area in Puebla and Hidalgo, Mexico. Two chemical sub-sources of obsidian from Paredón are spatially discrete and cannot be distinguished by visual characteristics. To facilitate future investigations of the prehistoric exploitation of these sub-sources, an inter-laboratory comparison of elemental concentrations is presented based on neutron activation analysis and several XRF instruments.

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“…Many of the archaeological specimens, however, contain elemental chemistry outside of the recommended values for Cerro Kaskio, with strontium and zirconium. The anomalous results could be the consequence of analysing some very small and thin specimens (Frahm ). Alternatively, it is possible that these materials originated in a still undetermined outcrop in the vicinity of Cerro Kaskio, or that we did not capture the full range of variability associated with the geochemical composition of Cerro Kaskio when we sampled it.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Pleistocene Lithic Procurement and Geochemical Characterization of the Cerro Kaskio Obsidian Source in South‐western Bolivia

et al. 2018

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Primary questions regarding the foraging behaviour of the first hunter–gatherers who colonized the New World are how they found, procured and utilized high‐quality raw materials for manufacturing stone tools. In this paper, we present evidence from the late Pleistocene site of Cueva Bautista in the highlands of south‐western Bolivia, which demonstrates that a substantial portion of the recovered stone tool assemblage originated in Cerro Kaskio, a recently discovered obsidian source located 15 km south‐west of the site. In addition to describing the geological and geochronological setting, we provide the first geochemical characterization of the Cerro Kaskio source by means of instrumental neutron activation analysis and energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence. Supported on the technological analysis and archaeometric sourcing of the obsidian lithics found in Cueva Bautista, we discuss the nature of the procurement strategies practised by the earliest mobile hunter–gatherers who explored and colonized the Andean highlands. We conclude that opportunistic lithic resource procurement was probably an important component of the first foraging societies that explored the highland Andes.

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Can I get chips with that? Sourcing small obsidian artifacts down to microdebitage scales with portable XRF

Cited by 17 publications

References 84 publications

Evidence for Middle Palaeolithic occupation and landscape change in central Armenia at the open-air site of Alapars-1

Evidence for Middle Palaeolithic occupation and landscape change in central Armenia at the open-air site of Alapars-1

Geochemical Variability in the Paredón Obsidian Source, Puebla and Hidalgo, Mexico: A Preliminary Assessment and Inter‐Laboratory Comparison

Late Pleistocene Lithic Procurement and Geochemical Characterization of the Cerro Kaskio Obsidian Source in South‐western Bolivia

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