14 Relationships of Physical Systems to Archaeological Records and Prehistoric Cultures in the Four Corners Area

Friday, 9 May 2003
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM

PRELIMINARY SOURCING FOR OBSIDIAN DEBITAGE ASSOCIATED WITH EVIDENCE FOR METALLURGICAL ACTIVITY IN MANAGUA, NICARAGUA

Paper number: 14-7
Program: SYMPOSIA SESSIONS
Time: 9:55 AM – 10:10 AM

Authors

Abstract

A suite of ~100 obsidian debitage fragments from the archaeological site of Ciudad Sandino, Managua, Nicaragua, previously linked to copper metallurgy (Aggen et al., 2000, GSA Abstr. With Progr., v.32, no.7, p.A424), were analyzed by ICP-MS for a suite of 26 major and trace elements in an effort to set limits upon their provenance.

Preliminary analysis of this data is consistent with a local origin for virtually all of these obsidian fragments. This, combined with the fact that the splattered copper “droplets” occur on both fresh and weathered surfaces on the obsidian, suggest that both the obsidian and the copper metallurgical activity were local in origin.