Trace-Element Analysis of Obsidian Sources and Artifacts of Central Chile (Maule River Basin) and Western Argentina (Colorado River)

The present paper describes obsidian sources and compositional analysis performed on obsidian recovered from natural flows in the upper Maule River basin (central Chile). We compare the composition of this obsidian with that of obsidian artifacts recovered from selected archaeological sites both in the middle and lower valley of the Maule River and in the Argentinian provinces of Mendoza and Neuquén. The results indicate that the collected obsidian samples can be separated into six major groups. Most of the obsidian artifacts are assignable to a particular source area, but there still remain some unknown sources. We conclude that the Laguna del Maule source area was exploited from at least 50 A.D. onward and that the material was distributed to sites located more than 200 km from the source.

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Recent Research on Obsidian from Iowa Archaeological Sites

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/280870 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 51 (4) ◽

pp. 837-852 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Duane C. Anderson ◽

Joseph A. Tiffany ◽

Fred W. Nelson

Keyword(s):

Trace Element ◽

Analytical Methods ◽

Yellowstone National Park ◽

National Park ◽

Trace Element Analysis ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Middle Woodland ◽

Element Analysis

In this paper we summarize the results of six years of passive obsidian collecting in Iowa during which time 31 samples were obtained and subjected to trace element analysis. We find that: (1) 74% of the obsidian originated at the Obsidian Cliff Quarry in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; and (2) in contrast with earlier midwestern studies where obsidian was found in ritual contexts on Middle Woodland sites, the Iowa material is associated with a broader temporal range and on sites where ritual use is not evident. A discussion of the analytical methods used is provided as well as of previous research on midwestern obsidian finds.

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Results of Instrument Neutron-Activation Trace-Element Analysis of Human Remains from the Naknek Region, Southwest Alaska

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/280734 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 57 (2) ◽

pp. 288-299 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

R. K. Harritt ◽

S. C. Radosevich

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Trace Element ◽

Trace Element Analysis ◽

Human Remains ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Late Prehistoric ◽

Element Analysis ◽

Animal Bone ◽

Trace Element Study ◽

Sea Mammals

An attempt to replicate results of a previous dietary trace-element study of northwestern Alaska (Connor and Slaughter 1984) was made with human- and animal-bone samples from the Naknek region, southwest Alaska. Trace elements of special interest are strontium and zinc because of previously postulated relation of abundances of these elements to marine and terrestrial dietary foci in human remains from archaeological sites (i.e., Nelson et al. 1986; Schoeninger and Peebles 1981). Related objectives were to develop evidence supporting Harritt's (1988) proposal for the existence of separate late prehistoric inland and coastal social and territorial entities in the region, which would be reflected as a dichotomy of trace levels in human bone; differences in abundances of strontium and zinc trace elements in bones representing each group should reflect diets based on either terrestrial fauna and plants or largely of marine sea mammals and shellfish. We find that there are no characteristic trace-element patterns for differentiating historic and late prehistoric coastal or interior inhabitants of the Alaska Peninsula, in spite of historic and archaeological evidence that indicates that such patterns should be present. This lack of patterning is traced to an erroneous assumption made initially by the present authors, and by Connor and Slaughter (1984): Because 99 percent of all digested Sr is deposited in the skeleton of vertebrates (including marine), there is no direct correlation between Sr content of human bones and the proportion of sea-mammal or teleost consumption in the prehistoric human diet.

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