Obsidian was an important resource for prehistoric people in the North American Southwest. Elemental analysis of obsidian samples from Southwestern archaeological sites has been widely successful in identifying the raw material sources used by the people in the region. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) i...detailed
Lithic artifacts were still in use in Bronze Age Europe, in spite of the emergence of a new technology, namely metallurgy, during this period. In fact, stone technology continued to be used everywhere until at least the end of the Early Bronze Age, and even until the end of the Late Bronze Age i...detailed
We propose a combination of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and chemometrics to discriminate between Mesoamerican obsidian sources and to assign archaeological artifacts of unknown origin to their respective deposits using a procedure that does not require any type of calibration or reference...detailed
The process of dating ancient obsidian artifacts converts the quantity of surface diffused molecular water to a calendar age using an experimentally derived diffusion coefficient predicted from glass composition. The internal structural water content of rhyolitic obsidian has been identified as ...detailed
Obsidian artifacts are commonly recovered as funerary items in ancient Maya burials. Young and old individuals of both sexes and different social classes were buried with different quantities of obsidian, primarily in the form of prismatic blades. Although obsidian blades can serve many function...detailed
Hokkaido obsidian sources have been widely exploited by hunter-gatherer groups in Northeast Asia since the Upper Paleolithic (~30,000 cal. BP). Rebun Island is located 50 km from the northwest tip of Hokkaido in the Sea of Japan. Given that obsidian does not occur naturally on Rebun Island, all ...detailed
Obsidian, a naturally occurring glass and rare resource, appears in the archaeological record of Cyprus at the same time when human populations establish permanent settlements across the island. Geological sources of obsidian do not occur on Cyprus so the material had to be procured elsewhere an...detailed
Archaeologists first identified obsidian artifacts in Albania in the early 20th century, but their numbers were small and the contexts insecure. Their source was never determined. Nor was it clear why, given the large numbers of obsidian artifacts recovered in regions to the south and north, in ...detailed
This paper traces and reviews the conduct of obsidian studies in California, with emphasis on the results of provenance studies and hydration dating over the past few decades. Review of substantive results reveals temporal and spatial change in the distribution of certain obsidians in different ...detailed