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Chert Nucleus and Cortex Characterization for Archaeological Provenance Study Tested in the Prebaetic System Region (Valencian Community, Spain)

ABSTRACT The characterization of chert artifacts and the identification of their raw material is a pivotal issue in archaeology for the comprehension of economic and territorial patterns related to prehistoric populations. In the last years, several analytical techniques have been employed to characterize chert and discriminate among different provenances. In this study, cherts collected from different outcrops exploited since the Prehistory in the area of Alcoi (Alacant, Spain) were analyzed. Nucleus and cortex of each sample were divided and separately analyzed to determine their concentrations of major, minor and trace elements. The analyses revealed the elemental difference between both the parts of the chert and pointed out the importance of separation during sample preparation. Eventually, only the results of the nucleus analysis allowed discriminate among the different outcrops.