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Diana_Simone_MS_Thesis_2019.pdf (8.43 MB)

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GEOCHEMISTRY AND PROVENANCE OF CHERT STONE TOOLS, COSHOCTON COUNTY, OHIO

Simone, Diana Marie
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1573642286625337

Abstract Details

2019, MS, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences.
Chert stone tool artifacts are found in great abundance and are studied by archaeologists looking for clues on the economy and trade of prehistoric civilizations. Two main interests are provenance of the tool stone and the quality of the rock. Currently, the common practice to determine provenance is by visually comparing color. However, since chert has a large color variance and often colors of one outcrop can look very similar to another, this method is unreliable since human sight has a limited color spectrum. As for quality, there are unsupported theories that prehistoric people specifically chose certain chert to make their tools. For chert, the more silica it contains, the harder the rock will be, and thus, the more durable the tool. Through a geochemical analysis of a set of early Holocene artifacts and known chert outcrops, I determined the provenance and the quality of these samples without depending on conventional methods. I also utilized visible derivative spectroscopy (VDS) in hopes to determine the color variations within the samples of artifacts and outcrops by measuring the wavelength of visible color spectrum that is seen by the human eye. Unfortunately, VDS was not enough to compare the samples, so I performed a principal component analysis to establish any similarities or differences. Together these various tests provided evidence of the provenance and quality of the artifacts found at the Welling archaeological site in Ohio.
Jeremy Williams, Ph.D (Advisor)
Metin Eren, Ph.D (Committee Member)
Joseph Ortiz, Ph.D (Committee Member)
122 p.
Archaeology; Geochemistry; Geological; Geology
Geochemistry; Provenance; X-Ray Fluorescence; Flint; Chert; Toolstone; Knapping; Visual Derivative Spectroscopy; Holocene stone tools; stone tools; Ohio stone tools; geoarchaeology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Simone, D. M. (2019). GEOCHEMISTRY AND PROVENANCE OF CHERT STONE TOOLS, COSHOCTON COUNTY, OHIO [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1573642286625337

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Simone, Diana. GEOCHEMISTRY AND PROVENANCE OF CHERT STONE TOOLS, COSHOCTON COUNTY, OHIO. 2019. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1573642286625337.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Simone, Diana. "GEOCHEMISTRY AND PROVENANCE OF CHERT STONE TOOLS, COSHOCTON COUNTY, OHIO." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1573642286625337

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1573642286625337
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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.