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Chapitre D'ouvrage Studies on the Early Paleolithic site of Melka Kunture, Ethiopia. Edited by Jean Chavaillon and Marcello Piperno Année : 2004

Trace element geochemistry in Balchit obsidian (Upper Awash, Ethiopia)

Résumé

The only identified source on the left bank of the Awash River is obsidian of type A (Balchit main lava outcrop). Thus, differences observed among the analysed samples concerning obsidians of types B and C may reflect minor variations among a single source during the emplacement of the lava or refer to unidentified sources upstream or on the left bank basin of the Awash River. Obsidian of type D collected south of the Awash River in Simbiro Creek formations is a grey vitrous fluidal lava with a porphyric microstructure; quartz and feldspar crystals are oriented according to the fluidal structure. This material appears to be an ignimbrite facies which vitreous bedsole rapidly cooled in the contact with the substratum. We have identified several similar ignimbrites in this area. The Balchit obsidian lava and its reworked debris are widely distributed in the paleoenvironment and form a major raw material source for prehistoric artefacts. In the future we may expect to identify more obsidian types in primary and secondary positions and including some flaked by hominids, especially in the southern part of the Melka Kunture area
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Dates et versions

halshs-00003989 , version 1 (07-07-2005)

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  • HAL Id : halshs-00003989 , version 1

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Gérard Poupeau, Guy Kieffer, Jean-Paul Raynal, Andy Milton, Sarah Delerue. Trace element geochemistry in Balchit obsidian (Upper Awash, Ethiopia). Studies on the Early Paleolithic site of Melka Kunture, Ethiopia. Edited by Jean Chavaillon and marcello Piperno, 1, Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, pp.103-110, 2004. ⟨halshs-00003989⟩
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