1 research outputs found
Chronological and chemical approaches to obsidians from Bakla Tepe and Liman Tepe, Western Anatolia
In this study, the provenance of 42 obsidians from the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age levels of two settlements
– Bakla Tepe and Liman Tepe – located on the Aegean coast of Anatolia were investigated with an
interdisciplinary approach using fission-track (FT) dating, Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and
Epithermal Neutron Activation Analysis (ENAA). Some artefacts showed FT ages of a few thousand years.
Apparent FT ages of the remaining samples are distributed over a wide range, from 0.53 ± 0.03 to
1.43 ± 0.20 Ma. After application of the size-correction method, most artefacts were distributed in a homogeneous
group characterized by FT ages varying from 1.48 ± 0.47 to 1.80 ± 0.20 Ma, with a mean value of
1.65 ± 0.05 Ma and low induced track density corresponding to low U content. The remaining 3 samples
showed relatively high induced track densities. One of them has an apparent age of 0.53 ± 0.03 Ma and a sizecorrected
age of 1.02 ± 0.07 Ma. The probable potential sources for the studied samples were identified as the
island of Melos in the Aegean, and the central Anatolian sources – particularly the Göllüdağ complex – through
comparison of the FT data. INAA and ENAA studies have been carried out on 34 artefacts at the TRIGA Mark II
research reactor of the University of Pavia. The identification of the sources was attained through cluster analysis
of the chemical data. These results agree fully with those obtained by FT dating: most artefacts originated from
the Melos–Dhemenegaki flow, and only 3 samples from central Anatolia. The current study provides a contribution
to a better understanding of the circulation of obsidians in Anatolia