TY - JOUR
T1 - Ptghni
T2 - A new obsidian source in the Hrazdan River basin, Armenia
AU - Frahm, Ellery
AU - Sherriff, Jenni
AU - Wilkinson, Keith N.
AU - Beverly, Emily J.
AU - Adler, Daniel S.
AU - Gasparyan, Boris
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Pavel Avetisyan, Director, Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia, for his continued support of our research. We also want to thank Karen Bayramyan, Head of the Protection of Monuments of History and Culture Agency for the Kotayk and Gegharkunik Provinces, the Ministry of Culture, Republic of Armenia for his assistance during the fieldwork activities. We also thank Khachatur Meliksetian, Deputy Director for Science, Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia for his continued collaboration with and support for the PAGES Project. The PAGES Project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust (Grant RPG-2016-102). The pXRF instrument used in this study is part of the research infrastructure of the University of Minnesota's Institute for Rock Magnetism. Funding for the instrument came from the University of Minnesota Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship (GIA) Program, awarded to Joshua Feinberg, Gilbert Tostevin, and Kyungsoo Yoo. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments that allowed us to improve the final paper. We also greatly appreciate, as always, our collegial interactions with editor Chris Hunt.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/8
Y1 - 2017/8
N2 - Here we report our recent discovery of a new obsidian source in central Armenia. Using portable XRF, we were able to chemically identify “Ptghni” obsidian as a previously unrecognized source on the same day that we first encountered it during our field surveys. Obsidian was found in alluvial-lacustrine sediments exposed within the Hrazdan Gorge, where it had been deposited after having eroded from an upstream source. These sediments were covered by mafic lavas and later exposed by downcutting of the Hrazdan River. Based on the stratigraphy of the gorge, the lava flows – and, therefore, the sediments sandwiched between them – predate 441 ka. The composition of Ptghni obsidian does not fit into the chemical trends of known sources in the Gegham and Tsaghkunyats ranges, so its precise volcanic origin remains unknown. Comparisons to unidentified artifacts in the literature revealed no matches, but obsidian sourcing work in Armenia has largely focused on the Holocene, when the Ptghni source might no longer have been accessible. The discovery of Ptghni obsidian is crucial for research into early hominin expansions given that it was an obsidian source available for use as toolstone by hominins during the Early and/or Middle Pleistocene.
AB - Here we report our recent discovery of a new obsidian source in central Armenia. Using portable XRF, we were able to chemically identify “Ptghni” obsidian as a previously unrecognized source on the same day that we first encountered it during our field surveys. Obsidian was found in alluvial-lacustrine sediments exposed within the Hrazdan Gorge, where it had been deposited after having eroded from an upstream source. These sediments were covered by mafic lavas and later exposed by downcutting of the Hrazdan River. Based on the stratigraphy of the gorge, the lava flows – and, therefore, the sediments sandwiched between them – predate 441 ka. The composition of Ptghni obsidian does not fit into the chemical trends of known sources in the Gegham and Tsaghkunyats ranges, so its precise volcanic origin remains unknown. Comparisons to unidentified artifacts in the literature revealed no matches, but obsidian sourcing work in Armenia has largely focused on the Holocene, when the Ptghni source might no longer have been accessible. The discovery of Ptghni obsidian is crucial for research into early hominin expansions given that it was an obsidian source available for use as toolstone by hominins during the Early and/or Middle Pleistocene.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019916526&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.05.039
DO - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.05.039
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85019916526
SN - 2352-409X
VL - 14
SP - 55
EP - 64
JO - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
JF - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
ER -