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Material sources of basalt and obsidian artefacts from a prehistoric settlement site on Norfolk Island, South Pacific
Author(s) -
Anderson Atholl,
Ambrose Wal,
Leach Foss,
Weisler Marshall
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
archaeology in oceania
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1834-4453
pISSN - 0728-4896
DOI - 10.1002/j.1834-4453.1997.tb00368.x
Subject(s) - prehistory , archaeology , basalt , archipelago , geology , bay , settlement (finance) , plateau (mathematics) , provenance , human settlement , geography , paleontology , world wide web , computer science , payment , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Recent discovery of a prehistoric archaeological site at Emily Bay, Norfolk Island, enables the question of settlement origins to be revisited. Analysis of a sample of basalt flakes by non‐destructive, energy‐dispersive XRF analysis indicates that there was local adze production, not merely refurbishment, suggesting that quarry and reduction sites might yet be discovered. Analysis of an obsidian blade by major elements and PIXE shows that it originated in a Raoul Island (Kermadecs) source. It is hypothesized that the colonisation history of the Norfolk group belongs with those of other temperate archipelagoes (Kermadecs, Chathams, Snares) which appear to have originated in New Zealand rather than tropical Polynesia.