Academic Journal

Accessory minerals: a provenancing tool for steatite quarries

Bibliographic Details
Title: Accessory minerals: a provenancing tool for steatite quarries
Authors: Chmielowski, Riia, Badreshany, Kamal, Milek, Karen
Source: Archaeometry. 67(5):1212-1229
Subject Terms: accessory minerals, Fe oxide, LA-ICP-MS, provenance, Scandinavia, spinel, steatite, trace-element maps, Viking Age
Description: Steatite has been a widely traded material across a range of archaeological contexts. Yet, challenges inherent to determining its provenance limits our understanding of the networks and mechanisms of its exchange. We present a robust new accessory mineral provenancing “fingerprint” method based their specific growth history. We use Laser-Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to produce detailed trace-element maps of minerals that reveals changes in the composition across individual crystals, that arose due to changes in their location-specific growing conditions. Our case study presents results from Scandinavian steatite quarries that feature spinel and iron oxide accessory minerals.
File Description: electronic
Access URL: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-230799
https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.13087
Database: SwePub
Description
ISSN:0003813X
14754754
DOI:10.1111/arcm.13087