Micro-PIXE studies on prehistoric chert tools: elemental mapping to determine Palaeolithic lithic procurement
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Micro-PIXE studies on prehistoric chert tools: elemental mapping to determine Palaeolithic lithic procurement Marta Sánchez de la Torre 1,2,3 & Anikó Angyal 4 & Zsófia Kertész 4 & Stéphan Dubernet 2 & François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec 2 & Enikő Papp 4 & Zoltán Szoboszlai 4 & Zsófia Török 4 & Ákos Csepregi 4 & Zita Szikszai 4 Received: 12 April 2018 / Accepted: 26 June 2018 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract This paper contributes to an understanding of the distances and choices involved in raw material procurement strategies by Upper Palaeolithic communities through a Pyrenean geo-archaeological case study. Methodologically, it involved using Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) with a focused proton beam to determine the concentration and distribution of elements in geological samples from three natural primary outcrops belonging to two geological formations outcropping in the French side of the Pyrenees. While it was not possible to distinguish the formation through reference to major and minor elements, some variations were revealed at the trace elemental level. With the aim to determine if these elements were associated with the Si matrix or to a specific inclusion, elemental maps were acquired, and the elemental composition of the identified inclusions were also determined. These chemical signatures were then compared to those generated from archaeological artefacts from sites in northern Spain as a means of reconstructing the catchment areas used by prehistoric groups for their chert procurement. The results indicate the existence of trans-Pyrenean long distance procurement strategies during the Magdalenian (13,700 to the 18,800 cal BP). Keywords Micro-PIXE . Chert . Provenance . Mapping
Introduction Chert outcrops exploited as sources of tool-making raw materials are well-documented for the Palaeolithic communities of Europe (Duke and Steele 2010). Their geological products have primarily been characterised at the macroscopic scale Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0668-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Marta Sánchez de la Torre [email protected] 1
Dpto. Ciencias de la Antigüedad (PPVE), Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna St 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
2
IRAMAT-CRP2A (UMR 5060), CNRS/Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Maison de l’Archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, 33607 Pessac, France
3
SERP-Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre St 6-8, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
4
Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA Atomki), P.O. Box 51, Debrecen H-4001, Hungary
and based on textural and micropalaeontological descriptions. In those cases where a chert outcrop is well delimited geographically and macroscopically, there is the possibility of recognising its use archaeologically. Nevertheless, in other cases, cherts possess identical macroscopic and petrographic characteristics also when belonging to different geological
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