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  • Sourcing Obsidian from Late Neolithic Sites on the Great Hungarian Plain: Preliminary p-XRF Compositional Results and the Socio-Cultural Implications
Title: Sourcing Obsidian from Late Neolithic Sites on the Great Hungarian Plain: Preliminary p-XRF Compositional Results and the Socio-Cultural Implications
Significant archaeological research has been conducted on chipped stone tools recovered from prehistoric sites throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The limited number of obsidian geological sources throughout the region, combined with the relatively homogeneous nature of obsidian and the increased use of new techniques for conducting compositional analysis in the field, has facilitated in accurately sourcing obsidian artifacts from sites in the region. This article presents the compositional results of 203 obsidian artifacts recovered from seven Late Neolithic (5,000 – 4,500 BCE) sites from the Great Hungarian Plain. Compositional results of the archaeological specimens obtained with a Bruker portable X-ray fluorescence device (p-XRF) were compared with obsidian geological compositional data to determine artifact provenience. By sourcing the obsidian chipped stone tools, it is possible to reconstruct prehistoric patterns of exploitation/exchange and to note how these patterns vary throughout the Plain. The results illustrate that a majority of the studied artifacts originated from the Carpathian 1 source, however, a limited number of samples came from the Carpathian 2E and Carpathian 2T sources. Based on this preliminary study, the variation in geological source exploitation may be linked to socio-cultural practices that differentiated the Tisza and Herpály archaeological units during the Late Neolithic.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1312027
PAR ID:
10188356
Author(s) / Creator(s):
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica
Volume:
10
Issue:
2/2019
ISSN:
1804-848X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
113 - 120
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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