Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T16:32:05.563Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of Resolution and Sample Preparation in Hydration Rim Measurement: Implications for Experimentally Determined Hydration Rates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Barry E. Scheetz  and
Christopher M. Stevenson
Barry E. Scheetz
Affiliation:
Materials Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
Christopher M. Stevenson
Affiliation:
Archaeological and Historical Consultants, Inc., Centre Hall, PA 16828
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The role of the theoretical limit of resolution of optical microscopes is discussed in relation to obsidian rim age-date determinations. The resolution of the optics is shown to contribute an error of ± 20 percent. The error analysis identified the determination of the activation energy as the single step in the dating process that introduces the largest error.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 110 - 117
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bloss, F. D. 1961 An Introduction to the Methods of Optical Crystallography. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Clark, D. W. 1984 Some Practical Applications of Obsidian Hydration Dating in the Subarctic. Arctic 37(2) : 91–109.Google Scholar
Compton, R. R. 1962 Manual of Field Geology. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Dyson, J. 1960 Precise Measurement by Image-splitting. Journal of the Optical Society of America 50 : 754–757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Findlow, F. J., and DeAtley, S. 1976 Photographic Measurement in Obsidian Hydration Dating. In Advances in Obsidian Glass Studies, edited by Taylor, R. E., pp. 165–172. Noyes Press, Park Ridge, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Friedman, I., and Smith, R. L. 1960 A New Dating Method Using Obsidian : Part I. The Development of the Technique. American Antiquity 25(4) : 476–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, R. J. 1984 Current Problems in Obsidian Hydration Analysis. In Obsidian Studies in the Great Basin, edited by Hughes, R. E., pp. 103–116. Contributions of the University of California Research Facility No. 45. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Kerr, P. F. 1977 Optical Mineralogy. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Kodak 1974 Photography Through the Microscope. Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York.Google Scholar
Michels, J. W. 1965 Lithic Serial Chronology through Obsidian Hydration Dating. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Michels, J. W. 1967 Archaeology and Dating by Hydration of Obsidian. Science 158 : 211–214.Google Scholar
Michels, J. W., Stevenson, C. M., Tsong, I. S. T., and Smith, G. A. 1987 The Hydration Rate for Easter Island Obsidian. In Recent Easter Island Archaeology, edited by Ayres, W. S.. University of Oregon Occasional Papers, in press.Google Scholar
Michels, J. W., and Tsong, I. S. T. 1980 Obsidian Hydration Dating : A Coming of Age. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 3, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 405–444. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Michels, J. W., Tsong, I. S. T., and Nelson, C. M. 1983 Obsidian Dating and East African Archaeology. Science 219 : 361–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michels, J. W., Tsong, I. S. T., and Smith, G. A. 1983 Experimentally Derived Hydration Rates in Obsidian Dating. Archaeometry 25(2) : 107–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J. H. 1971 Optical Microscopy for the Materials Sciences. Marcel Dekker, New York.Google Scholar
Schenk, R., Kistler, G., and Bradley, F. 1962 Photomicrography. Franklin Publishing, Palisades, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Stevenson, C. M. 1984 Corporate Descent Group Structure in Easter Island Prehistory. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Swartz, C. E. 1973 Used Math. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Google Scholar