Item

Looking Through the Glass: An X-Ray Analysis of Pre-Colombian Obsidian Artifacts

Daigle, Kelly
Citations
Altmetric:
License
License
Abstract
Over 500 obsidian artifacts and tools were recovered from the Ecuadorian archaeological site La Tolita, providing invaluable insight to the ancient trade networks of the area during the Pre-Columbian era. The geochemical composition of obsidian can be used as a fingerprint for determining source materials. I analyzed the composition of obsidian shards using X-Ray Fluorescence, and performed statistical analysis to determine the level of heterogeneity in origin. Preliminary results suggest that only three to four possible individual sources were used as raw material during the site activity period, making the La Tolita obsidian a great candidate for trade route reconstruction.
Description
Date
2024-01-01
Student Status
Undergraduate
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type of presentation
Poster Presentation
Collections
UVM Student Research Conference
Show all metadata
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14849/8733
DOI
Advisor(s)
Jorge Garcia
Department
Program/Major
Geology
Anthropology
College/School
College of Arts and Sciences
Organization
item.page.researchcategory
Social Science
Embedded videos