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La-Icp-Ms Analysis Of Quartzite From The Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado, Bonnie L. Pitblado, Molly Boeka Cannon, Hector Neff, Carol M. Dehler, Stephen T. Nelson
La-Icp-Ms Analysis Of Quartzite From The Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado, Bonnie L. Pitblado, Molly Boeka Cannon, Hector Neff, Carol M. Dehler, Stephen T. Nelson
Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications
We report the results of LA-ICP-MS analysis of 402 quartzite samples representing 48 collection loci in the Upper Gunnison Basin (UGB), Colorado and determine the extent to which the sources can be geochemically discriminated from one another using this non-destructive technique. The ability to differentiate among the sources would open the door to provenance studies of the quartzite chipped-stone tools and debitage that constitute 95% or more of most of the 3000-plus prehistoric site assemblages documented in the UGB. Our samples represent prehistorically quarried and non-quarried quartzite sources, including outcrop (primary) and gravel (secondary) deposits. The results reveal spatial and …