Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean

4
Chert Sourcing in the
Northern Lesser Antilles
The Use of Geochemical Techniques
in Discriminating Chert Materials
Sebastiaan Knippenberg and Johannes J. P. Zijlstra
Introduction
One of the main topics in the present volume is the use of archaeometric techniques
in determining the source of specific materials used by the Amerindian
populations of the Caribbean realm. In the opening chapter of this volume, Hofman
and colleagues mention that the introduction of these techniques in this area
occurred relatively late as compared to other parts of the world, despite the fact
that the Caribbean island archipelago lends itself well to archaeometric investigation
of different materials, in particular rocks.
With regard to rocks, the Lesser Antilles form an excellent stage to perform this
type of research. First, the islands in this region have different geological histories
( Martin- Kaye 1969; Wadge 1994; see also Knippenberg 2006). This has resulted in
a situation in which neighboring islands provide totally different settings with regard
to rock material availability. Second, it can be stated that several islands are
unique in this respect, such as St. Martin, Antigua, and La Désirade (Figure 4.1)
(Bonneton and Vila 1983; Christman 1953; Martin- Kaye 1959; Montgomery et al.
1992; Multer et al. 1986; Weiss 1994). They are especially the islands, which host
some very distinguishable and very unique rock materials, which crop out over
a relatively small area and which have been used by the indigenous populations
(Knippenberg 2006).
The discovery of significant amounts of siliceous, flaked stone artifacts at the
Archaic and Early Ceramic Age sites of Norman Estate and Anse des Pères on
St. Martin, initiated the research aimed at finding the source of these stone types,
whereby petrographic and geochemical analytical techniques were used in sup-
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