Multiple sources: The pXRF analysis of obsidian from Kenan Tepe, S.E. Turkey
Abstract Obsidian is often seen as a proxy for exchange and networking even though the relationship between these elements can be somewhat indirect. Nevertheless, recent studies which involve the provenance analysis of a large number of artefacts from a single site have opened up a number of avenues which are simply not visible when only a small number of artefacts can be provenanced. In this paper, after evaluating the efficacy of our pXRF protocol for the provenancing of large numbers of obsidian artefacts, we go on to use the data set we generated from Kenan Tepe, in SE Turkey, to discuss the wide range of sources present including the hitherto poorly understood Group 3d. Our integrated study of the techno morphological and contextual aspects of the artefacts alongside the provenance analysis also allows us to track the use of obsidian through time and to profile the use of individual sources.