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GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND THE CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLCANIC GLASSES IN OCEANIA
Author(s) -
Smith I. E. M.,
Ward G. K.,
Ambrose W. R.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
archaeology and physical anthropology in oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.501
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1834-4453
pISSN - 0003-8121
DOI - 10.1002/j.1834-4453.1977.tb00270.x
Subject(s) - volcano , prehistory , characterization (materials science) , earth science , raw data , archaeology , geology , distribution (mathematics) , raw material , geography , volcanic glass , mineralogy , physical geography , geochemistry , volcanic rock , computer science , materials science , chemistry , mathematics , mathematical analysis , organic chemistry , programming language , nanotechnology
A REVIEW is made of known and potential sources of volcanic glasses throughout Oceania. Data obtained by spectrometric analyses of material available from deposits are given and these chemical characterizations are used to delimit potential sources of raw material in prehistory. It is shown that each known deposit for which analyses are available can be described uniquely in terms of the analytical data. Suggestions are made as to the way in which these data can be used to argue for attribution of artefact raw material to a particular source; new analyses of volcanic glasses from both geological and archaeological contexts are presented; some problems are noted, and suggestions made for new directions in methodology.