Tracking sources: a chemical characterization using DRX and FRX of lithic artifacts from archaeological sites and quartz outcrops (Sierras Centrales, Córdoba, Argentina)

CATTANEO GABRIELA ROXANA; SARIO GISELA; CAMINOA JOSE; COLLO GILDA; GERMANIER ALEJANDRO ; FAUDONE SONIA; IZETA ANDRÉS DARÍO; SALVATORE MARCOS

Ciudad autónoma de Buenos Aires

Simposio; 11th International Symposium on knappable materials. "From toolstone to stone tools"; 2017

IMHICIHU CONICET

ABSTRACTIn the archaeology of the Southern Pampean Hills in Argentina more than one hundred years ago studies have reported the presence of a lithic technology centered on the use of quartz as a predominant raw material (Caminoa 2016). However, little effort has been made to try to characterize its chemical composition to help to understand the circuits of mobility or the exchange networks in the archaeological sites of the region. We report a methodological approach through the chemical characterization of archaeological and geological samples using different techniques: X-Ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, SEM and EPMA analyses. The detection of trace elements of quartz outcrops and its comparison with archaeological artifacts from 8 sites from the valley of Ongamira (Northern Province of Córdoba, central region of Argentina) were performed in this work. Samples belong to different chronological periods -ca. 3600 BP to 1900 BP- and are associated to nomadic hunter-gatherer societies.