Petrologic and Mineralogic Studies on the Origin of Paleolithic Obsidian Implements from Wolseongdong, Korea

Petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical analyses were carried on the paleolithic obsidian implements excavated at Wolseongdong, Daegu, Korea. The obsidians has a homogeneous glassy texture that can be observed in a typical obsidian formed from a rapid cooling of silicic magma. Major element composition of the obsidians represent calc-alkaline series. Comparing those with other obsidians from domestic local excavation sites, Mt. Baekdu, and Kyusu of Japan, the Wolseongdong obsidians show similar element distribution pattern with others in spite of small difference in trace and rare Earth element contents. Sr isotopes of the obsidians considerably differ from those of the obsidians from southern part of the Korean Peninsula or from Mt. Baekdu, K-Ar age is approximately 30 Ma, which is much older than Mt. Baekdu (10 Ma). Therefore, considering the characteristics of obsidians found in the Korean Peninsula including mineralogy, petrology, trace element, and isotopes chronology, the obsidians can be divided into four groups: Mt. Baekdu, southern part of Korea (Kyusu of Japan), middle part of Korea, and Wolseongdong region. These groups suggest a possibility of more than four different origins of the obsidians found in the Korean Peninsular.