Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska
Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) is a useful geochemical technique employed to explore toolstone procurement strategies in the lithic record, commonly utilized in sourcing obsidians. Non-obsidian volcanic toolstones (e.g., dacites, rhyolites, basalts, and andesites) are abundant in interior Alaska...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2075-163X/13/9/1146/ 2023-10-01T04:00:07+02:00 Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska Angela K. Gore Kelly Graf Joshua J. Lynch agris 2023-08-30 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/min13091146 eng eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Crystallography and Physical Chemistry of Minerals & Nanominerals https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/min13091146 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Minerals Volume 13 Issue 9 Pages: 1146 pXRF geochemistry archaeology Alaska lithic technological organization eastern Beringia Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/min13091146 2023-09-03T23:54:19Z Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) is a useful geochemical technique employed to explore toolstone procurement strategies in the lithic record, commonly utilized in sourcing obsidians. Non-obsidian volcanic toolstones (e.g., dacites, rhyolites, basalts, and andesites) are abundant in interior Alaskan assemblages yet understudied compared to obsidian. Geochemical analyses of these non-obsidian materials offer the potential to gain new insights into ancient toolstone provisioning behaviors. This paper presents a synthesis of geochemical (pXRF) analyses of rhyolite artifacts, systematic regional raw material surveys, and lithic technological analyses collected from nineteen late Pleistocene and Holocene assemblages from the Nenana valley, interior Alaska. Previous research studies on archaeological rhyolites from the region are replicated, new rhyolite artifact groups are identified, and one new rhyolite source is reported and described here. Ultimately, this paper contributes to a growing body of geochemical research seeking to provide a more nuanced look at the complex late Pleistocene and Holocene record of eastern Beringia. Text Alaska Beringia MDPI Open Access Publishing Minerals 13 9 1146 |
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Open Polar |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
pXRF geochemistry archaeology Alaska lithic technological organization eastern Beringia |
spellingShingle |
pXRF geochemistry archaeology Alaska lithic technological organization eastern Beringia Angela K. Gore Kelly Graf Joshua J. Lynch Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska |
topic_facet |
pXRF geochemistry archaeology Alaska lithic technological organization eastern Beringia |
description |
Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) is a useful geochemical technique employed to explore toolstone procurement strategies in the lithic record, commonly utilized in sourcing obsidians. Non-obsidian volcanic toolstones (e.g., dacites, rhyolites, basalts, and andesites) are abundant in interior Alaskan assemblages yet understudied compared to obsidian. Geochemical analyses of these non-obsidian materials offer the potential to gain new insights into ancient toolstone provisioning behaviors. This paper presents a synthesis of geochemical (pXRF) analyses of rhyolite artifacts, systematic regional raw material surveys, and lithic technological analyses collected from nineteen late Pleistocene and Holocene assemblages from the Nenana valley, interior Alaska. Previous research studies on archaeological rhyolites from the region are replicated, new rhyolite artifact groups are identified, and one new rhyolite source is reported and described here. Ultimately, this paper contributes to a growing body of geochemical research seeking to provide a more nuanced look at the complex late Pleistocene and Holocene record of eastern Beringia. |
format |
Text |
author |
Angela K. Gore Kelly Graf Joshua J. Lynch |
author_facet |
Angela K. Gore Kelly Graf Joshua J. Lynch |
author_sort |
Angela K. Gore |
title |
Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska |
title_short |
Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska |
title_full |
Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterizing Archaeological Rhyolites in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska |
title_sort |
characterizing archaeological rhyolites in the nenana valley, interior alaska |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/min13091146 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Alaska Beringia |
genre_facet |
Alaska Beringia |
op_source |
Minerals Volume 13 Issue 9 Pages: 1146 |
op_relation |
Crystallography and Physical Chemistry of Minerals & Nanominerals https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/min13091146 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/min13091146 |
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Minerals |
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13 |
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9 |
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1146 |
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1778534847396970496 |