A combined visual-geochemical approach to establishing provenance for pegmatite quartz artifacts and application within the Churchill River basin of Manitoba and Saskatchewan

This dissertation aims to provide insight into the relationships between environmental factors and the organization of quartz technology in northern Manitoba by evaluating the contribution of large pegmatite quarries to quartz economies around Granville and Southern Indian Lakes. Secondary ion mass...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: ten Bruggencate, Rachel E.
Other Authors: Fayek, Mostafa (Anthropology), Milne, S. Brooke (Anthropology) Oakes, Jill (Environment and Geography) Boyd, Matthew (Lakehead University)
Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1993/22192
Description
Summary:This dissertation aims to provide insight into the relationships between environmental factors and the organization of quartz technology in northern Manitoba by evaluating the contribution of large pegmatite quarries to quartz economies around Granville and Southern Indian Lakes. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) quantification of trace element (Ti, Ge, U, Th) concentrations and Pb isotope ratios was used to characterize large sources of pegmatite quartz exploited by toolmakers in the Granville Lake and Lac La Ronge regions of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, respectively. The same technique was applied to a sample of formal quartz tools from the Churchill River Diversion Archaeological Project (CRDAP) study area in northern Manitoba. Quarry and artifact results were compared. The results of this analysis indicate: 1) characterized pegmatite quartz sources in the Granville Lake district likely played a significant role in quartz economies in the Churchill River basin of northern Manitoba, 2) toolmakers in the study area had large lithic procurement ranges, and 3) lithic resource stress contributed to the selection of technological strategies in the Churchill River basin. October 2013