CCGS 2022: More Data on Sources and Sourcing for Carboniferous Cherts in New Brunswick, Canada

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Carboniferous Chert Geoarchaeological Survey (CCGS) was initiated in 2019 in order to identify and characterize the distribution of geological occurrences of Carboniferous-aged cherts in New Brunswick, Canada, and, to better understand the archaeological exploitation of those lithic materials. Initial fieldwork associated with the CCGS sought to collect geological samples of chert from multiple occurrences in order to conduct non-destructive geochemical analyses of source-derived samples using handheld (portable) energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (hhXRF or pXRF). During the course of this preliminary fieldwork, Holyoke identified a possible secondary source location for so-called Washademoak Multi-coloured Chert (WMCC) at Henderson’s Settlement (site BlDn-21) and testing in 2022 confirmed Indigenous use of the source for making stone tools. In this paper, we expand on geochemical analyses for source discrimination between Henderson’s Settlement and the previously known quarry at Belyeas Cove using data derived from Scanning Electron Microscopy – Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA). Further, we introduce the findings from BlDn-21 and discuss implications for understanding where ancestral Indigenous groups were obtaining chert previously glossed as WMCC, and how these findings inform ongoing sourcing studies of the region’s cherts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36240.0