Abstract

A study of provenance of obsidian artifacts from "site 25-Las Estacas", Quebrada de Jorquera (Copiapó, Northern Chile) was carried out by means of X-ray fluorescence, using radioactive sources. Obsidian samples from different Chilean geological regions, located in South Central Chile (Laguna del Maule volcanic area, sources of La Coloradas and La Plata), "Radal Siete Tazas" and the North of Chile (Copiapó Volcano) were analyzed. The analysis was performed using 109Cd and 241Am annular excitation sources and X-ray fluorescence. This allowed the determination of Fe, Cu, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, and Ba concentrations on samples of ground obsidian from the aforementioned sites. The measured Rb, Sr, and Zr concentrations were used to construct discriminant diagrams, which clearly showed clustering of the samples from the different sources, and the association of the archaeological obsidian sample to the Copiapó Volcano source, which is geographically close to the site.