Obsidian provenance research in the Americas.
The characterization of archaeological materials to support provenance research has grown rapidly over the past few decades. Volcanic obsidian has several unique properties that make it the ideal archaeological material for studying prehistoric trade and exchange. This Account describes our laboratory's development of a systematic methodology for the characterization of obsidian sources and artifacts from Mesoamerica and other regions of North and South America in support of archaeological research.
Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA. glascockm@missouri.edu
Michael D
MD
Glascock