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Obsidian-Hydration Dating, the Coner Phase, and Revisionist Chronology at Copan, Honduras

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Geoffrey E. Braswell
Geoffrey E. Braswell*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
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Abstract

The technique of obsidian-hydration dating contains great potentials for error, from both laboratory determinations of rate constants and measurements of effective hydration temperatures (EHTs) in the field. The rate constants used to determine these dates are of questionable validity and need to be independently verified. Significantly, no measurements of EHTs were taken at the site of Copán, Honduras, until the majority of the obsidianhydration dates were calculated. An error of but a few Kelvins in estimated EHT can lead to dates that are in error by several centuries. In view of the likelihood of large errors in the Copán obsidian dates, the assertion that the Late Classic Coner phase should be extended beyond A. D. 900 (Webster and Freter 1990a) is premature.

La técnica de fechamiento por hidratación de la obsidiana tiene errores potenciales que resultan no sólo de determinaciones en el laboratorio de las constantes utilizados en la ecuación de Arrhenius sino también de las medidas de temperaturas efectivas para hidratación (TEH) en el campo. Las constantes utilizadas para determinar la fecha alargada de la fase Coner en el Clásico Tardío en Copán, Honduras, son de validez discutible y les falta verificación independiente. Además, ningún TEH ha sido medida en Copán. Un error de muy pocos grados Kelvin puede resultar en errores de varios siglos. Adicionalmente las fechas radiocarbónicas y arqueomagnéticas, y otros restos arqueológicos en este resumen no nos obligan a extender los límites generalmente aceptados de la fase Coner. A causa de la probabilidad de errores grandes en las técnicas utilizadas por Webster y Freter (1990a) para obtener las fechas nuevas en Copán, no existe suficiente evidencia para apoyar la tesis de que la fase Coner debe extenderse después de aproximadamente 900 D. C.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 1992 , pp. 130 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1992

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