A Petrological Approach to find the Source Location of Raw Materials for Prehistoric Stone Axes

Abstract

Numerous green polished stone axes were excavated from the Sannai-Maruyama site of the Jomon period (5.9-4.2 cal kyr BP). The axes exhibited unique petrological characteristics; therefore, we successfully identified the minimal locality of the source rock used to make these axes. Our study presents an example of a petrological approach for the archaeological studies of stone axes.