Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2009, Side 45

Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2009, Side 45
Geochemical Identification of Obsidian Artifacts Site Date No. pieces Reference Bær Early medieval 3+ BFE Bergþórshvoll Medieval? 1 Eldjárn & Gestsson 1952: 46 Bessastaðir Multi-period? 1+ GÓ Granastaðir Viking 25 Einarsson 1995: 172 Háls Multi-period? ;4 KS Hofstaðir Multi-period 4 GML Hólar Post-medieval í :... RT Hrísheimar Viking i GAG Hvítárholt Viking 4 Magnússon 1973: 66, 70, 73 Langholt sites Meðalheimur Medieval 6 DB Stóra-Seyla Viking/Medieval 6 DB Torfagarður Medieval |+ DB Reyðarfell Early Post-Medieval 3 National Museum Database Reykholt Multi-period? 10 GS Skálholt Post-Medieval (12 GML Stóraborg Medieval 1 MS Þjórsárdalur sites Sámsstaðir Early Medieval 2 Rafnsson 1977: 112 Sandártunga Post-Medieval ■1 GAG Skeljastaðir Early Medieval |í GAG Stöng Early Medieval 9 GAG Table 1. Preliminary survey of major settlement excavations where obsidian is cited (key to ini- tials in references: GAG Guðrún Alda Gísladóttir, GS Guðrún Sveinbjarnardóttir, KSKevin Smith, GML Gavin M. Lucas, GÓ Guðmundur Ólafsson, RT Ragnheiður Traustadóttir, MS Mjöll Snœsdóttir, DB Doug Bolender, BFE Bjarni F. Einarsson) adjacent magma of different composi- tion) is remarkably uniform chemically, and this homogeneity is expressed in trace element composition. Early chemi- cal analyses of obsidians showed that each obsidian “source” (a distinctive geochemical entity, or chemical type sensu Hughes 1998: 103-104) possessed unique concentrations of trace and rare earth elements, sometimes referred to as a “fíngerprint”, which could be used in combination to identify and distinguish among parent geologic eruptive sources. Interdisciplinary collaborations forged between archaeology, geology and geo- chemistry in the late 1960’s set the stage for what have come to be called “obsidi- an sourcing studies” employing trace element contrasts to identify the eruptive source for obsidian artifacts. Armed with independently derived knowledge about the age of the obsidian artifacts, over the past forty years archaeologists in many parts of the world (e.g. in Europe [Williams-Thorpe 1984a, b;], the Mediterranean [Dixon 1976; Hallam et al. 1976], Mesoamerica [Cobean et al. 1971; Stross et al. 1976] and North America [Jack 1976; Hughes 1986; Shackley 2005]) have used geochemical distinctions to track the source-specifíc distribution of artifacts in time and space 43

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Archaeologia Islandica

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