Weathering of archaeological cherts: A case study from the Solomon Islands

摘要

AbstractWeathering of chert artifacts from three Lapita sites (ca. 3000–2000 B.P.) in the Southeast Solomons is examined. It is shown that the rate of weathering is strongly influenced by soil pH, mineralogy, and prehistoric burning of the material. The concentrations of some major elements (Na, Cl, K, Al) are shown to have been altered during the weathering process. Implications of this work for the sourcing and dating of cherts are discusse