@misc{10481/69268,
year = {2021},
month = {5},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/69268},
abstract = {The provenance of flint artefacts found in archaeological excavations is very important for archaeologists to
better understand artefact displacement, exchange networks, mobility patterns, prehistoric migrations and
various cultural processes such as commerce, procurement strategies, territorial boundaries, etc. Reflectance
Spectroscopy is an analytical technique that measures the radiation reflected by any type of surface, as it is
sensitive to electronic and vibrational processes, both at the atomic and molecular level, which results in spectral
signatures and absorption bands of the material. In this study the flint material of 16 quarries with evident signs
of having been used to manufacture artefacts during the Neolithic period have been characterized by means of
their spectral signatures and used to identify the origin of 5 flint blades found in a dolmen close to one of the
quarries. The application of cluster analysis to compare the spectral signatures of both the quarries and the
archaeological blades has ruled out one of them as not being sourced from the studied quarries, as well as
assigning a very probable origin to the other four. Interestingly, none of the blades studied have been sourced to
the nearest quarry, as one might presume. The results of this study confirm that reflectance spectroscopy
combined with the multivariate statistical analysis could provide a powerful tool for determining the origin of
flint artefacts which have been deposited in museums and other institutions.},
publisher = {Elsevier},
keywords = {Flint},
keywords = {Quarries},
keywords = {Provenance},
keywords = {Reflectance spectroscopy},
keywords = {Cluster analysis},
title = {Reflectance spectroscopy in combination with cluster analysis as tools for identifying the provenance of Neolithic flint artefacts},
doi = {10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103041},
author = {García Del Moral Garrido, Luis F. and Morgado Rodríguez, Antonio and Esquivel Guerrero, José Antonio},
}