ABOUT THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA OBSIDIAN SOURCE CATALOG

The U. S. and Canada Obsidian Source Catalog was originally created as a support resource for Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory. The field work and geochemical studies that form the core of the source catalog were first initiated in about 1980 when I (Craig Skinner) was in graduate school at the University of Oregon studying the archaeological and prehistoric use of obsidian in Oregon. The progress and scope of the source inventory was significantly expanded when I took over management and later ownership of Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory in 1995 and began to systematically collect (often with the help of other archaeologists) and analyze source obsidian from the western United States, Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada.

Although I retired and sold Northwest Research in 2016, I've continued to maintain and expand the source catalog and intend to finally wrap up this research project that began almost 40 years ago. I had no idea that it would take me this long to finish up this inventory of obsidian sources ...

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Last Updated: 03/01/2024