APPLICATION OF FISSION-TRACK DATING TO ARCHAEOMETRY - PROVENANCE STUDIES OF PREHISTORIC OBSIDIAN ARTIFACTS

Abstract

Several obsidian artifacts from Anatolian (Turkey) Neolithic sites have been analysed by the FT dating method and the results have been compared with data referring to obsidian natural sources located in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions. The conclusions can be summarized as follows: (1) some of the artifacts are very probably from Central Anatolian sources, others from Northern Anatolian sources, (2) the remaining artifacts are from unidentified sources, probably located or in Eastern Anatolian or in Western Anatolia and (3) the Carpathian and Aegean sources are not represented in the studied sample set. Comparison between the FT dating method and the trace elements composition by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) shows that the combination of these two approaches is a powerful tool for provenance studies of prehistoric obsidian artifacts.