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

GISELA SARIO; MARCELO RUBIO; ANDRÉS IZETA; JOSÉ CAMINOA; ALEJANDRO GERMANIER; MARCOS SALVATORE; ROXANA CATTÁNEO; GILDA COLLO ; SONIA FAUDONE

Buenos Aires

Simposio; 11 th International Simposium on Knappable Materials; 2017

IMHICIHU-CONICET

In the archaeology of the Sierras Centrales of Argentina more than one hundred years ago studies have reportedthe presence of a lithic technology centered on the use of quartz as a predominant raw material. However,little effort has been made totry to characterize its chemical compositionso asto understand the circuits of mobility or the exchange networks in the archaeological sites of the region.We report here a chemical characterization of archaeological and geological samples using X-Ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. The detection of trace elements of 100 quartz outcropsand its comparison with archaeological artifacts from 8 sites from the valleys of Ongamira and Copacabana (north of the province ofCórdoba, Argentina) were performed in this work. Samples belong to different chronological periods (from hunter-gatherer societies?ca. 6000 BP?to more recent occupations?ca. 300 BP).The results of these provenance studies haveallowed us to advance geochemicalcharacterization of quartz sources and discuss anappropriate set of chemical trace elements useful for comparison between archaeological sites and quarries.We found a variation in the use of sources depending on spatial relationship (site/quarry) and chronology (use of sources in differentperiods) and alsowe need further research in order to find new sources ofrock whose chemical record showed is not present in the outcropssampled.