Obsidian sourcing by X-ray fluorescence analysis

2025/02/06 by Ellery Frahm · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Meat and Animal Product Quality

paper · doi:10.31235/osf.io/khpx9_v1

Abstract

Obsidian sourcing is the process by which obsidian artifacts are matched to the geological sources (e.g., a specific volcano or lava flow) from which the obsidian originated on the basis of elemental composition, sometimes termed trace-element fingerprinting. Various techniques of chemical analysis have been used to source obsidian artifacts since the earliest studies during the 1960s; however, the majority of obsidian artifact sourcing today is conducted with some form of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), often energy-dispersive XRF (EDXRF) or portable XRF (pXRF, sometimes called handheld XRF). The results can elucidate mobility patterns, exchange systems, and other cultural phenomena of the past.

Discussions

• An entry that I wrote on XRF and #obsidian sourcing for an #archaeology encyclopedia was published at a such limited subscription level that even Yale doesn't have access – and our libraries have almo [bsky, 13 points, 2 comments]

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