Geochemical analysis of Anaseuli obsidians and mobility pattern of ancient humans in western Georgia Cover Image

ანასეულის ობსიდიანის გეოქიმიური ანალიზი და უძველესი ადამიანის მობილურობა დასავლეთ საქართველოში
Geochemical analysis of Anaseuli obsidians and mobility pattern of ancient humans in western Georgia

Author(s): Guram Chkhatarashvili, James Davenport, Michael D. Glascock
Subject(s): Archaeology, Cultural history, Social history
Published by: ბათუმის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი, ჰუმანიტარული მეცნიერებატა ფაკულტეტის აღმოსავლეთმცოდნეობის დეპარტამენტის „ელექტრონული ჟურნალი“.
Keywords: Guria; Anaseuli; obsidian; XRF; mobolity;

Summary/Abstract: Archaeological excavations conducted at various times in south-western Georgia have revealed stone age sites, with a notable colle­ction of flint and obsidian. However, the precise origins of obsi­dian remain ambiguous. In recent years, Georgian and USA resear­chers have published noteworthy works connected to origins of obsi­dian artefacts (Chkhatarashvili, Glascock 2022; Chkhatarashvili et al., 2024a,b; Chkhatarashvili et al., 2025a,b). This work present the results of geochemical analyses conducted on obsidian artefacts disc­overed at the Neolithic sites of Anaseuli I-II. The research was carried out using the XRF method at the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Reactor Research (MURR). The analysis iden­tified two different sources of obsidian supply, which once again ind­ic­ates that the Caucasus region has been an active zone of human mobility and contact since ancient times.

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