Critical Dimensions in Obsidian Provenance Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ann F. Ramenofsky: Papers in Honor of a Non-Normative Career" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Geochemistry, geology, and archaeology all conjoin contemporary provenance studies. Geochemistry provides the chemical signatures of parent geological materials and the requisite data to support attributions of archaeological artifacts to "source" (chemical type), geology provides the overarching context for understanding the formation of the geological parent materials, while archaeology informs on the human time-space-function dimensions of material use. Recent "big picture" synthesis of regional obsidian use in archaeology have drawn on artifact-to-source assignments from a variety of literature with minimal attempt to evaluate the accuracy of the source assignments themselves. This paper will address epistemological challenges arising from this narrow view of obsidian provenance designations, suggesting that confidence in synthetic results will require a common reporting "language", adherence to rigorous analytical standards, sensitivity to geological issues, and in-depth knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of different instrumental and data manipulation methods. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Ann F. Ramenofsky: Papers in Honor of a Non-Normative Career

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24846