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Petrographic Analysis of Basalt Artifacts from Three Aleutian Sites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Owen K. Mason  and
Jean S. Aigner
Owen K. Mason
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775
Jean S. Aigner
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775
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Abstract

By comparing thin sections of basalt artifacts from three early and middle Holocene Aleutian sites with geological samples, we can infer the location of the artifactual rock source or sources. Contrary to the sources, the comparison shows that the basalt artifacts came from a single flow or closely related flows 15-30 km from all three sites. This finding suggests we should reassess the role of cultural continuity, trade, and exchange in the early and middle Holocene of the Aleutians.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , July 1987 , pp. 595 - 607
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1987

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References

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