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Weathering of archaeological cherts: A case study from the Solomon Islands
Author(s) -
Sheppard Peter J.,
Pavlish Larry A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.3340070104
Subject(s) - weathering , geology , prehistory , archaeology , geochemistry , mineralogy , soil production function , soil water , paleontology , pedogenesis , soil science , geography
Weathering of chert artifacts from three Lapita sites (ca. 3000–2000 B.P.) in the Southeast Solomons is examined. It is shown that the rate of weathering is strongly influenced by soil pH, mineralogy, and prehistoric burning of the material. The concentrations of some major elements (Na, Cl, K, Al) are shown to have been altered during the weathering process. Implications of this work for the sourcing and dating of cherts are discussed.