Natural Science in Archaeology

4.1 Introduction 75
galena nodules, mica, a serpentine spatula, hematite beads, turquoise beads, abundant
native copper, and a large number of conch shells, both plain and decorated.
Although the earliest figurines date to a much earlier time, figurines become a
major category of artifacts beginning with the Neolithic. Figurines were most often
cult or ritual figures, vehicles of magic, representations of the deceased, or toys and
items for entertainment. They were made of clay, bronze, precious metals, bone,
ivory, and a variety of rocks and minerals. From the well-known Upper Paleolithic
site of Mal’ta, Medvedev (1998) lists the following ornaments made from minerals:
(1) small nephrite plates with natural and drilled holes, (2) pendants carved from
nephrite with imitations of red deer incisors, (3) beads from pieces of schistose
rock, (4) pendants made of calcite grooved at the center, and (5) bracelets made
of platy coal. Most of the lithics described in Derev’anko and Medvedev’s (1998)
article on the Lower Paleolithic of Siberia and the Russian Far East were quartzite,
but also included jasper, chalcedony, and slate.
The identification and classification of fine-grained lithics of volcanic origin
present special problems for the archaeologist. Petrographic and geochemical analyses
can overcome these problems and provide the data for firm identification and
classification. Lithic debitage from the British Camp shell midden, San Juan Island,
state of Washington, USA, had been classified for the past 100 years as basalt with
a local source predicted. Petrographic and geochemical analyses have shown that
these lithics are dacite rather than basalt, and that the source is the High Cascades,
up to 200 km from the site (Bakewell 1996).
The number of geologists conducting research in archaeomineralogy has shown a
steady increase since the middle of the twentieth century. This has been particularly
true in the British Isles. Shotton and Hendry (1979) described the rise of petrography
and trace-chemical analyses in studies of artifact obsidian, flint, sanukite,
and soapstone. Shortly thereafter, Kemp and Harvey (1983) edited a wide-ranging
book on archaeomineralogy with chapters on raw materials, building and sculptural
stones, jade and obsidian artifacts, ceramics, and native metals and minerals.
Seventeen chapters on the detailed petrography/petrology of stone axes from the
British Isles are presented in McKlough and Cummins (1988).
The tiny drilled holes in beads and other objects during the Neolithic and later
in quartz-based materials (hardness 7) have always prompted both admiration and
puzzlement. Gwinnett and Gorelick (1979) undertook a series of experiments to
determine the nature of ancient drilling technology. Using scanning electron microscopy,
they show and correlate patterns from their experiments and from artifacts left
by various drilling techniques.
I have read thousands of pages of articles on lithics recovered by archaeologists
where no evidence of the lithology is given. However, Black and Wilson (1999) begin
their abstract with, “Belyeas Cove on Washademoak Lake, Queens County, is the only
primary bedrock source of chert in New Brunswick known to have been exploited by
Native people.” This is an attractive opening sentence. The authors go on to present a
detailed study of the geology (14 pages) followed by two pages on the archaeology.
Although they still say, as part of the summary, “Washademoak multicolored chert is
a distinctive chert type associated with this source,” they do not fall into the “quick to