[H-QR05] Quaternary, Diachronic dynamics of human-environment interactions

[HQR05-P12] Archaeological obsidian study of Paektu-san (Changbai-shan) and Mafic obsidian sources in Continental Northeast Asia

*Kaoru OTANI¹, Masami IZUHO¹ (1.Tokyo Metroporitan University)

Keywords:Obsidian, Paektu-san (Changbai-shan), Mafic obsidian sources, hXRF, Upper Paleolithic, Continental Northeast Asia

Over the past few decades, scientists working in Russia, Korea, and China have primarily focused on two research areas in archaeological obsidian study in continental Northeast Asia. The first is the discovery of new mafic obsidian sources in Russian Far East and northeast China. The second is archaeological obsidian provenance analyses conducted at various sites in continental Northeast Asia, using chemical compositional techniques such as Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). These studies, particularly those conducted in Korea, indicate that all obsidian artifacts in this region originate from Paektu-san (Changbai-shan), which is divided into three or four sub-sources. Most of the obsidian used in the Upper Paleolithic comes from Paektu-san North Korea 1 (PNK1), which is typically semi-gloss black with high translucency. Smaller amounts of PNK2 and PNK3, which are greenish-gray or brownish and lack translucency, have also been reported. These findings suggest that hunter-gatherers equipped with microblade technology engaged in hyper long-distance seasonal movement, incorporating obsidian procurement as a strategic component of their behavioral adaptation. However, due to the limited number of chemically analyzed artifacts and the lack of precise locations for obsidian deposits in the detailed geological maps of North Korea, it remains unclear whether all obsidian was sourced from the vicinity of Paektu-san. In addition, with the newly discovered mafic obsidian sources in continental Northeast Asia, archaeological obsidian studies must update the list of obsidian sources to improve source discrimination.
Here we report the results of handheld XRF (hXRF) provenance analysis on obsidian artifacts from microblade assemblages at several sites in Gangwon Province, in the central Korean Peninsula. Following the protocol developed by Izuho et al. (2015, 2017), Otani and Izuho (2023), and Otani et al (2024), with an updated geological obsidian source list that includes not only Paektu-san sources but also mafic obsidian sources, we examine the mobility patterns and obsidian procurement strategies of foragers by integrating obsidian compositional data with reduction sequence analysis. Our hXRF results show that (1) none of the obsidian originated from southern Japan, and all obsidian artifacts being of continental origin, and (2) while most of the obsidian was sourced from PNK 1, a small number of artifacts were assigned to other distinct sources (or sub-sources of Paektu-san). These findings align with previous research, suggesting that microblade assemblages were produced using obsidian from the hyper-distant Peaktu-san, particularly PNK 1. However, due to the limited geological knowledge of North Korean obsidian deposits, it remains unclear whether the minor sources identified are sub-sources of Paektu-san or originate from other miscellaneous localities, including mafic obsidian sources. Despite these unresolved issues, it is unlikely that foragers equipped with microblade technology adapted to the local ecosystem in the central part of Korean Peninsula, simply traveled back and forth between their sites and Peaktu-san. Instead, their seasonal movements and foraging strategies, which planted obsidian acquisition into their mobility patterns, appear to have been far more complex. We aim to further elucidate these patterns by applying our integrated obsidian analysis to additional Upper Paleolithic sites in the central Korean Peninsula.