6533b831fe1ef96bd1298243

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Identification of local and allochthonous flint artefacts from the Middle Paleolithic site Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia, Spain) by macroscopic and physicochemical methods

subject

description

Flint is a lithic material that can be worked to obtain sharp blades with conchoidal fractures characteristic of lithic tools as scrapers, hand axes and arrowheads. These artefacts represent the majority of the lithic material from the Palaeolithic sites worldwide, and it continued to be used during subsequent periods to manufacture some of the earliest tools used by man. One of the questions that archaeologists are keen to answer in relation to flint use and characterization is sourcing. Answering this question is important to reconstruct interaction networks of prehistoric cultures. Over the past years, a great variety of analytical methods have been applied to identify the sources of flint artefacts found in different archaeological contexts.[18] The objective of these studies is to determine the chemical composition of geological and archaeological flint samples and to obtain element correspondences to establish the probable geological source of origin for archaeological artefacts.