Characterizing Quartz ArtEfacts: A Case Study from Manitoba's Northern Boreal Forest. (14th March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: ten Bruggencate, R.; Fayek, M.; Milne, B.; Brownlee, K.
• Is Part Of: Archaeometry. Volume 56:Number 6(2014)
• Page Start: 913
• Page End: 926
• Publication Date: 2014-03-14
• Subjects: Archaeometry -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Expertising -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1111/arcm.12092
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-813X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Visual and geochemical analyses of 30 pre‐contact quartz tools from the Churchill River basin of northern Manitoba were used to provisionally assess source provenance based on comparison to local quartz quarry data. The results indicate that tools made from quartz acquired from these quarries were transported and eventually deposited into archaeological sites up to 200 km away. Transport of this quartz, which is of relatively moderate quality, over such distances suggests that stone tool–using hunter–gatherer populations that lived in the Churchill River basin of northern Manitoba were highly mobile. It also indicates that higher‐quality raw materials were unavailable in the immediate area.</p> </abstract>