New pieces: the acquisition and distribution of volcanic glass sources in northeast China during the Holocene

Little is known about the diversity of volcanic glass sources used in prehistoric northeast China. Although preliminary research established the presence of a number of sources in archaeological sites from this area, the exact location of these sources was not known (Jia et al., 2010). A recent geoarchaeological survey of three source areas and new data derived from portable X-ray Fluorescence elemental analysis (pXRF) has revealed not only the location and use of two new geological sources in northeast China but also extended our understanding of the geologic context of volcanic glass from Tianchi/Paektusan Volcano, the major geological source of volcanic glass in northeast China. Furthermore, understanding the geological history of these new sources clarifies why they were only found in archaeological sites dated to the Holocene.