Obsidian in the Forest: Chemical Characterization of Archaeological Artifacts from Northwest Patagonia, Argentina.

STERN, CHARLES; CARBALLIDO CALATAYUD, MARIANA; BELLELLI, CRISTINA

Lípari

Congreso; International Obsidian Conference; 2016

Regional Aeolian Archaeological Museum ?Luigi Bernabò Brea?

We present new data characterizing the trace-element geochemistry of obsidian artifacts from archaeological sites located in the mixed Nothofagus and Austrocedrus forests of northwest Patagonia, Argentina. These data increase the available information for this area, which allows us to discuss both the spatial distribution and circulation of obsidian in the interior of the forest and between this environment and the steppes to the east and Pacific coast to the west, and also to extend the temporal extent of this discussion back into the early Holocene. We analyzed by ICP MS the trace element composition of 35 archaeological obsidian artifacts, of which 23 were obtained from three sites near Cholila (Chubut) dated between 680 and 1870 BP; 11 artifacts from two sites from Manso River (Rio Negro) dated between 330 and 8230 BP, and one artifact from near El Hoyo (Chubut) of an age between 1330 and 1600 BP. The data for these samples have been combined with other already published data for samples from Cholila, and compared with the available information about the chemistry of obsidian from different sources in Patagonia.