Material sources of basalt and obsidian artefacts from a prehistoric settlement site on Norfolk Island, South Pacific

Abstract

AbstractRecent discovery of a prehistoric archaeological site at Emily Bay, Norfolk Island, enables the question of settlement origins to be revisited. Analysis of a sample of basalt flakes by non‐destructive, energy‐dispersive XRF analysis indicates that there was local adze production, not merely refurbishment, suggesting that quarry and reduction sites might yet be discovered. Analysis of an obsidian blade by major elements and PIXE shows that it originated in a Raoul Island (Kermadecs) source. It is hypothesized that the colonisation history of the Norfolk group belongs with those of other temperate archipelagoes (Kermadecs, Chathams, Snares) which appear to have originated in New Zealand rather than tropical Polynesia.