Weathering of archaeological cherts: A case study from the Solomon Islands

Sheppard, Peter; Pavlish, L. A.

doi:10.1002/gea.3340070104

Cited by 28 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Taumako is a small (three miles long and one mile wide) volcanic island located in the Duff Island group in the far east of the Solomon Islands ( Fig. 1) (Sheppard and Pavlish 1992). The Duff Islands themselves are part of a larger group of islands, the Santa Cruz Group (Leach and Davidson 2008).…”

Section: The Site and Skeletal Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic insights into diet and health at the site of Namu, Taumako Island, Southeast Solomon Islands

Kinaston

Buckley

2016

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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A relatively new development to the milieu of archaeological techniques routinely used in the Pacific Island region, the stable isotope analysis of human skeletal and dental remains has provided important insights into diet, methods of subsistence and also intra-population variation in diet that may be related to age, sex or status. This study is a stable isotope analysis of one of the largest skeletal samples discovered in the Pacific Islands, from the Namu burial ground (ca. 700-300 BP) located on the small island of Taumako, Southeast Solomon Islands. Here, the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen of bone collagen (n = 142, δ 13 C bone and δ 15 N bone ) and tooth dentine (n = 86, δ 13 C tooth and δ 15 N tooth ) are analysed to assess adult (survivor) and subadult (non-survivor) diets and patterns of breastfeeding, which also provided insight into possible maternal and foetal/ perinatal stress in the population. The δ 13 C bone and δ 15 N bone results suggested that the adolescents and juveniles who died were eating foods from lower trophic levels than those who survived to adulthood, especially the males. The δ 13 C tooth and δ 15 N tooth stable isotope values suggested that, during the ages of 5-9 years, individuals were eating more terrestrial and less marine foods than later in life as adults. The sex differences in adult diet (δ 13 C bone and δ 15 N bone values) were not present as children (δ 13 C tooth and δ 15 N tooth values). The intra-population variation is discussed in the context of wider Pacific island diet and cultural processes and recent developments in understanding stress and disease processes on human stable isotope values.

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Section: The Site and Skeletal Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic insights into diet and health at the site of Namu, Taumako Island, Southeast Solomon Islands

Kinaston

Buckley

2016

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…The rhyolitic obsidian from the Talasea and Lou sources is very high quality, homogeneous, translucent black (in reflected light) often finely banded glass, with generally excellent flaking properties while the lower silica volcanic glass from Vanua Lava is a matte material, with possibly poorer flaking properties (Smith et al 1977:184). Chert. The sourcing of the chert from the sites is currently being completed by Sheppard (see Ward and Smith 1974 for a pilot study on a small sample of this material) using a combination of thin section petrography, study of micro-fossils and elemental analysis on a random sample of 5.5% (n=29) of the total chert collection (n = 524) from the sites (Sheppard and Pavlish 1992). Chert is not found on the atolls of the Reef Islands and is not reported from Nendo (Hughes, Craig and Dennis 1981).…”

Section: Raw Materials Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lapita lithics: trade/exchange and technology. A view from the Reefs/Santa Cruz

Sheppard

1993

Archaeology in Oceania

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An analysis of the obsidian and chert flaked stone assemblages from three Reefs/Santa Cruz Lapita sites (SE-SZ-8, SE-RF-2, SE-RF-6) is presented. Data on extraction, transport, core reduction, tool use and deposition are examined to see how well they fit a resource maximization model. It is concluded that factors other than utilitarian resource maximization are significant for an understanding of the use and distribution of lithic raw materials at these sites. It is suggested that transported obsidian and chert may have a complex commodity value history of which only the last stage is represented at the archaeological sites.

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“…In an archaeological context pH is a key parameter for the preservation of archaeological remains of several different materials e.g. bone [10,22,30], shells [24], iron [35], bronze [19] and even flint [7,36]. pH measurements are therefore normally included in monitoring programs at archaeological sites preserved in situ [6,9,13,25,27,33], and in reburial experiments [12,20,23,38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In situ measurement of soil pH

Matthiesen

2004

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Weathering of archaeological cherts: A case study from the Solomon Islands

Cited by 28 publications

References 8 publications

Isotopic insights into diet and health at the site of Namu, Taumako Island, Southeast Solomon Islands

Isotopic insights into diet and health at the site of Namu, Taumako Island, Southeast Solomon Islands

Lapita lithics: trade/exchange and technology. A view from the Reefs/Santa Cruz

In situ measurement of soil pH

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