Assessing raw material diversity at Poverty Point (16WC5) using non‐destructive reflectance spectroscopy

Abstract

AbstractLithic raw material variation is valuable for assessing the scale of human mobility, differential access to and from raw material sources, and prehistoric exchange patterns. Recent advancements in non‐destructive reflectance spectroscopy have proven to be more accurate in provenance investigations compared with the macroscopic (visual) identification technique for lithic artifacts. Here, we use visible/near‐infrared reflectance and Fourier transform reflectance spectroscopy on a collection of 845 lithic bifaces at Poverty Point (16WC5) site in northeastern Louisiana, a UNESCO World Heritage site that is well‐known for the presence of nonlocal materials, including stone tools. This study describes the first systematic approach to analyzing and interpreting hyperspectral reflectance data for cryptocrystalline silicate (e.g., chert and flint) artifacts at Poverty Point site. The chert materials identified in this study reaffirm the idea that tool stones arriving at the Poverty Point site came from diverse geologic sources, covering an expansive geographic area.