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Precise Characterization of Guatemalan Obsidian Sources, and Source Determination of Artifacts from Quiriguá

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Fred H. Stross ,
Payson Sheets ,
Frank Asaro  and
Helen V. Michel
Fred H. Stross
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Payson Sheets
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
Frank Asaro
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
Helen V. Michel
Affiliation:
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
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Abstract

For the determination of provenience of obsidian artifacts, precise and accurate measurements of composition patterns of the geologic sources are necessary for definitive and cost-effective assignments. Inter-comparison of data from different laboratories is often difficult. Suggestions for maximizing the usefulness of data already in the literature are made, contributions to a useful data bank of source composition patterns are recorded, and provenience determinations of 30 artifacts excavated in Quirigua, Guatemala are presented to exemplify the technique.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 1983 , pp. 323 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1983

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References

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