RECENT TRACE-ELEMENT DATA FOR A NEW PRIMARY SOURCE OF BLACK OBSIDIAN IN NORTHEAST SANTA CRUZ PROVINCE, PATAGONIA ARGENTINA
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Abstract
The record of a previously unknown black obsidian outcrop located at the eastern end of the Macizo del Deseado, near the Atlantic Ocean and the town of Tres Cerros, in Patagonia, is reported. Obsidian is a subalkaline rhyolite glass with medium potassium content. It is of lower quality than the black obsidian from the Pampa del Asador source, located in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Chico River, in the northwest of Santa Cruz. The ICP-MS and INAA geochemical data obtained for sixteen obsidian samples are comparable when measurement uncertainties are considered. However, these are significantly different from published ICP-MS data for samples from Pampa del Asador and 17 de Marzo, indicating that obsidian from Tres Cerros can be differentiated geochemically from these secondary sources. A black obsidian artifact from the Alero 4 site, located on the northeastern coast of Santa Cruz, was analyzed, showing macroscopic characteristics similar to those identified in the Tres Cerros samples. The results indicated that it was an obsidian from Pampa del Asador. Likewise, the geochemical trends obtained for the Tres Cerros samples were also not compatible with those observed in artifacts from the Alero del Valle and Cueva Aristizábal sites, located close to the southeast coast of Santa Cruz. In this sense, we emphasize that no evidence has yet been recorded that indicates the exploitation of the Tres Cerros source by human hunter-gatherer groups that occupied the Patagonian region in the past. In this framework, the geochemical characterization of the Tres Cerros source presented here constitutes initial information which can be compared with the one obtained from artifacts in archaeological sites, providing information to understand human mobility and the criteria for raw material selection.
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