Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts
Soapstone was mined and traded by the Palaeo-and Neo-Eskimo cultures (Saqqaq, Dorset, and Thule) as well as the Norse and Moravian cultures living in Greenland through time. We collected soapstone from outcrops around Nuuk, which hold large quantities of Greenland's high-quality soapstone, and...
Published in: | Journal of Archaeological Science |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2022
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Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/geochemical-signatures-of-soapstones-from-the-nuuk-area-southern-west-greenland--their-use-for-fingerprinting-of-archaeological-artefacts(c90e4e0c-eec2-424e-9d0e-8e1979c60ab8).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105552 |
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ftcopenhagenunip:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/c90e4e0c-eec2-424e-9d0e-8e1979c60ab8 2023-05-15T16:07:23+02:00 Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts Keulen, Nynke Poulsen, Majken D. Frei, Robert 2022-04 https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/geochemical-signatures-of-soapstones-from-the-nuuk-area-southern-west-greenland--their-use-for-fingerprinting-of-archaeological-artefacts(c90e4e0c-eec2-424e-9d0e-8e1979c60ab8).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105552 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Keulen , N , Poulsen , M D & Frei , R 2022 , ' Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts ' , Journal of Archaeological Science , vol. 140 , 105552 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105552 Steatite/soapstone Godthabsfjord (Nuup Kangerlua) Sm/Nd isochron age Rb-Sr isotope Geochemistry Geoarchaeology Provenance Eoarchaean NORTH-ATLANTIC CRATON BARBERTON GREENSTONE-BELT MAFIC-ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS SM-ND ISOTOPE COMPLEX EVOLUTION AGE MA GODTHABSFJORD SYSTEMATICS article 2022 ftcopenhagenunip https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105552 2022-08-03T22:51:14Z Soapstone was mined and traded by the Palaeo-and Neo-Eskimo cultures (Saqqaq, Dorset, and Thule) as well as the Norse and Moravian cultures living in Greenland through time. We collected soapstone from outcrops around Nuuk, which hold large quantities of Greenland's high-quality soapstone, and analysed their whole-rock geochemistry, Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopes for fingerprinting geological and archaeological purposes. Fieldwork showed that the quality of soapstone in the Nuuk area varies widely; however, a correlation exists with the age and metamorphic history of the rocks. Soapstone in the Nuuk area is derived from Archaean ultramafic rocks and yield high Mg, Cr, Ni and low Fe, V, K concentrations and are depleted in Ca. Soapstones from Nuuk have very high Rb concentrations and average to low Sr concentrations compared to other Archaean ultramafic rocks, leading to very high and irregular Rb-87/Sr-86 and Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios. A very poorly constrained Rb-Sr errorchron for unmetasomatised samples from the Nuuk area has a slope corresponding to an age of 3.05 +/- 0.33 Ga. Soapstone samples from Nuuk, both affected and unaffected by metasomatism give a(147)Sm/Nd-144 isochron age of 2.95 +/- 0.06 Ga. This is regarded as the age of metsomatism, and tectono-metamorphic overprinting, which affected the precursors to the soapstone. The best quality soapstones occur in the areas dominated by Eoarchaean gneisses. The ca. 2.95 Ga overprinting is uncommonly old for soapstones worldwide. Soapstone, and hence archaeological artefacts created from this soapstone, may likely be fingerprinted to the Nuuk area. Article in Journal/Newspaper eskimo* Greenland North Atlantic Nuuk Saqqaq Thule University of Copenhagen: Research Greenland Nuuk ENVELOPE(-52.150,-52.150,68.717,68.717) Journal of Archaeological Science 140 105552 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Copenhagen: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftcopenhagenunip |
language |
English |
topic |
Steatite/soapstone Godthabsfjord (Nuup Kangerlua) Sm/Nd isochron age Rb-Sr isotope Geochemistry Geoarchaeology Provenance Eoarchaean NORTH-ATLANTIC CRATON BARBERTON GREENSTONE-BELT MAFIC-ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS SM-ND ISOTOPE COMPLEX EVOLUTION AGE MA GODTHABSFJORD SYSTEMATICS |
spellingShingle |
Steatite/soapstone Godthabsfjord (Nuup Kangerlua) Sm/Nd isochron age Rb-Sr isotope Geochemistry Geoarchaeology Provenance Eoarchaean NORTH-ATLANTIC CRATON BARBERTON GREENSTONE-BELT MAFIC-ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS SM-ND ISOTOPE COMPLEX EVOLUTION AGE MA GODTHABSFJORD SYSTEMATICS Keulen, Nynke Poulsen, Majken D. Frei, Robert Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts |
topic_facet |
Steatite/soapstone Godthabsfjord (Nuup Kangerlua) Sm/Nd isochron age Rb-Sr isotope Geochemistry Geoarchaeology Provenance Eoarchaean NORTH-ATLANTIC CRATON BARBERTON GREENSTONE-BELT MAFIC-ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS SM-ND ISOTOPE COMPLEX EVOLUTION AGE MA GODTHABSFJORD SYSTEMATICS |
description |
Soapstone was mined and traded by the Palaeo-and Neo-Eskimo cultures (Saqqaq, Dorset, and Thule) as well as the Norse and Moravian cultures living in Greenland through time. We collected soapstone from outcrops around Nuuk, which hold large quantities of Greenland's high-quality soapstone, and analysed their whole-rock geochemistry, Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopes for fingerprinting geological and archaeological purposes. Fieldwork showed that the quality of soapstone in the Nuuk area varies widely; however, a correlation exists with the age and metamorphic history of the rocks. Soapstone in the Nuuk area is derived from Archaean ultramafic rocks and yield high Mg, Cr, Ni and low Fe, V, K concentrations and are depleted in Ca. Soapstones from Nuuk have very high Rb concentrations and average to low Sr concentrations compared to other Archaean ultramafic rocks, leading to very high and irregular Rb-87/Sr-86 and Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios. A very poorly constrained Rb-Sr errorchron for unmetasomatised samples from the Nuuk area has a slope corresponding to an age of 3.05 +/- 0.33 Ga. Soapstone samples from Nuuk, both affected and unaffected by metasomatism give a(147)Sm/Nd-144 isochron age of 2.95 +/- 0.06 Ga. This is regarded as the age of metsomatism, and tectono-metamorphic overprinting, which affected the precursors to the soapstone. The best quality soapstones occur in the areas dominated by Eoarchaean gneisses. The ca. 2.95 Ga overprinting is uncommonly old for soapstones worldwide. Soapstone, and hence archaeological artefacts created from this soapstone, may likely be fingerprinted to the Nuuk area. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Keulen, Nynke Poulsen, Majken D. Frei, Robert |
author_facet |
Keulen, Nynke Poulsen, Majken D. Frei, Robert |
author_sort |
Keulen, Nynke |
title |
Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts |
title_short |
Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts |
title_full |
Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts |
title_fullStr |
Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts |
title_sort |
geochemical signatures of soapstones from the nuuk area, southern west greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/geochemical-signatures-of-soapstones-from-the-nuuk-area-southern-west-greenland--their-use-for-fingerprinting-of-archaeological-artefacts(c90e4e0c-eec2-424e-9d0e-8e1979c60ab8).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105552 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-52.150,-52.150,68.717,68.717) |
geographic |
Greenland Nuuk |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Nuuk |
genre |
eskimo* Greenland North Atlantic Nuuk Saqqaq Thule |
genre_facet |
eskimo* Greenland North Atlantic Nuuk Saqqaq Thule |
op_source |
Keulen , N , Poulsen , M D & Frei , R 2022 , ' Geochemical signatures of soapstones from the Nuuk area, southern West Greenland - their use for fingerprinting of archaeological artefacts ' , Journal of Archaeological Science , vol. 140 , 105552 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105552 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105552 |
container_title |
Journal of Archaeological Science |
container_volume |
140 |
container_start_page |
105552 |
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1766403495995375616 |