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Obsidian: Geology and Archaeology in the North American Southwest

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Obsidian was a critically important material for paleolithic and neolithic peoples in the production of stone tools. Archaeologists rely on obsidian tools to map and date social and economic organization in the ancient Native American cultures in the Southwest. Obsidian: Geology And Archaeology In The North American Southwest by M. Steven Shackley (Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Berkeley Archaeological XRF Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley) is the summation of decades of investigation, integrating the body of obsidian research into a single reference work. Obsidian includes advances in analytical chemistry and field petrology, presenting the most recent data on (and interpretations of) archaeological obsidian sources in the Southwest, while also exploring the ethnohistorical and contemporary background for obsidian use in Native American indigenous societies. The reader is also presented with an erudite discussion of the diverse ways in which archaeologists should approach obsidian research and a thorough survey of archeological obsidian studies that has methodological and theoretical applications for any archaeological dig anywhere in the world. Enhanced with 14 halftone and 43 line illustrations, Obsidian is a core addition to professional and academic Archaeological Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.