Tracking quartz: a methodological approach to an elusive type of sources using chemical characterization according to their geological origin.

CAMINOA, J. ; GERMANIER, A.; SALVATORE, M. ; CATTÁNEO, R.; RUBIO, M. ; FAUDONE, S.; SARIO, G. ; COLLO, GILDA; IZETA, A.

Buenos Aires

Simposio; 11th International Symposium on Knappable Materials; 2017

In the archaeology of the Sierras Centrales ofArgentina more than one hundred years ago studies have reported the presence ofa lithic technology centered on the use of quartz as a predominant raw material.However, little effort has been made to try to characterize its chemical compositionso as to understand the circuits of mobility or the exchange networks in thearchaeological sites of the region.We report here a chemical characterization ofarchaeological and geological samples using X-Ray fluorescence and X-raydiffraction. The detection of trace elements of 100 quartz outcrops and itscomparison with archaeological artifacts from 8 sites from the valleys of Ongamiraand Copacabana (north of the province of Córdoba, Argentina) were performed inthis work. Samples belong to different chronological periods (from hunter-gatherersocieties?ca. 6000 BP?to more recent occupations?ca. 300 BP).