CHERT SOURCING USING SIMS ANALYSIS: A CASE STUDY FROM SOUTHERN BAFFIN ISLAND, CANADA

Lithic raw material sourcing studies traditionally draw on observational methods to assess the kinds and qualities of toolstone used in the manufacture of chipped stone technologies. Once patterns of variability are isolated, linkages can be drawn between artifact assemblages and known source areas to reconstruct cultural phenomena like seasonal settlement strategies, activity scheduling, social interaction, and trade. However, observational methods can over inflate actual patterns of variability since diversely coloured toolstones that may derive from the same depositional environment will be considered different based on this attribute state. In this paper, we explore the effectiveness of isotopic and trace element analysis using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to more precisely source chert resources located in the interior of southern Baffin Island. Chert found in this region is highly variable in colour and our objective is to determine if this variability is indicative of multiple source areas or if it is an artifact of more subjective observational analytical methods.