Publications & Presentations
Insight Through Obsidian
MAX Lab’s scholarly output reflects the lab’s mission to uncover the archaeological narratives embedded in stone. From the volcanic glass of the Mediterranean to cutting-edge geochemical sourcing, our publications span continents and time periods – offering fresh perspectives on ancient human connectivity and technological ingenuity.
MAX Lab's Publications
- Mercader, J., Akuku, P., Boivin, N., Camacho, A., Carter, T., Clarke, S., Cueva-Temprana, A., Favreau, J., Galloway, J., Hernando, R., Huang, H., Hubbard, S., Kaplan, J.O., Larter, S., Magohe, S., Mohammed, A., Mwambwiga, A., Oladele, A., Petraglia, M., Roberts, P., Saladie, P., Shikoni, A., Silva, R., Soto, M., Stricklin, D., Mekonnen, D., Zhao, W., Durkin, P., and Kaplan, J.), ‘Homo erectus adapted to steppe-desert climate extremes one million years ago’, Nature Communications Earth & Environment 6(1).
- Rosenberg, D., Rizzuto, B., Klimscha, F., and Carter, T.), ‘The obsidian beads from Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf (ca. 5,200–4,700 cal. BC), Jordan Valley, Israel: technology, provenance, and socio-economic significance’, Anthropological and Archaeological Sciences 14: 113.
- Maeda, O., Carter, T., and Moir, R., ‘Change and continuity in the lithic industry of Hasankeyf Höyük, a late 10th millennium cal. BC site on the Upper Tigris’, in Y. Nishiaki, O. Maeda and M. Arimura (eds.), Tracking the Neolithic in the Near East. Lithic Perspectives on its Origins, Development and Dispersals. Sidestone Press, Leiden: 453-468.
- Carter, T., Moir, R., Wong, T., Campeau, K., Miyake, Y. and Maeda, O.), ‘Hunter-fisher-gatherer river transportation: Insights from sourcing the obsidian of Hasankeyf Höyük, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic A village on the Upper Tigris (SE Turkey)’, Quaternary International 574: 27-42.
- Mercader, J., Akuku, P., Boivin, N., Bugumba, R., Bushozi, P., Camacho, A., Carter, T., Clarke, S., Cueva-Temprana, A., Durkin, P. Favreau, J., Fella, K., Haberle, S., Hubbard, S., Inwood, J., Itambu, M., Koromo, S., Lee, P., Mohammed, A., Mwambwiga, A., Olesilau, L., Patalano, R., Roberts, P., Rule, S., Saladie, P., Siljedal, G., Soto, M., Umbsaar, J., and Petraglia, M.), ‘Earliest Olduvai hominins exploited unstable environments ~ 2 million years ago’, Nature Communications 12:3.
- Carter, T., Campeau, K., and Streit, K.), ‘Transregional perspectives: characterizing obsidian consumption at Early Chalcolithic Ein el-Jarba (N. Israel)’, Journal of Field Archaeology 45(4): 249-269.
- Kolankaya-Bostanci, N., Carter, T. & Weir, E.), ‘Çine-Tepecik Höyük obsidiyen tedarik ve takas sistemi [Çine-Tepecik Höyük obsidian procurement and exchange system]’, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi / Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters 37(1): 83-95.
- Soto, M., Favreau, J., Campeau, K., Carter, T., Abtosway, M., Bushozi, P.M., Clarke, S., Durkin, P.R., Hubbard, S.M., Inwood, J., Itambu, M., Koromo, S., Larter, F., Lee, P., Mwambwiga, A., Nair, R., Olesilau, Patalano, R., Tucker, L. and Mercader, J.), ‘Fingerprinting of quartzitic outcrops at Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29.
- Soto, M., Favreau, J., Campeau, K., Carter, T., Durkin, P.R., Hubbard, S.M., Nair, R., Bushozi, P.M., and Mercader, J.), ‘Systematic sampling of quartzites in sourcing analysis: intra-outcrop variability at Naibor Soit, Tanzania (part I)’, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12: 100.
- Carter, T., Strasser, T., Panagopoulou, E., Campeau, K. and Mihailovic, D.D.), ‘Obsidian circulation in the Early Holocene Aegean: A case study from Mesolithic Damnoni (SW Crete)’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 17: 173-183.
- Kartal, M., Kartal, G., Coskun, A., Carter, T., Sahin, F.S. and Özkaya, V.), ‘Chipped stone assemblages of Körtik Tepe (Turkey)’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 19: 92-99.
- Suda, Y., Grebennikov, A., Kuzmin, Y.V., Glascock, M.D., Wada, K., Ferguson, J.,R., Kim, J.C., Popov, V.K., Rasskazov, S.V., Yasnigina, T.A., Saito, N. Takehara, H., Carter, T., Kasztovszky, Z., Biro, K.T., and Ono, A.), ‘Inter-laboratory validation of the WDXRF, EDXRF, ICP–MS, NAA and PGAA analytical techniques and geochemical characterisation of obsidian sources in northeast Hokkaido Island, Japan’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 17: 379-392.
- Carter, T., Batist, Z, Campeau, K., Garfinkel, Y., and Streit, K.), ‘Investigating Pottery Neolithic socio-economic “regression” in the Southern Levant: Characterizing obsidian consumption at Sha‘ar Hagolan (N. Israel)’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 15: 305-317.
- Carter, T. ‘Obsidian consumption in the Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene Aegean: Contextualising new data from Mesolithic Crete’, Annual of the British School at Athens 111: 1-22.
- Carter, T., Contreras, D., Campeau, K., and Freund, K.), ‘Spherulites and aspiring elites: The identification, distribution, and consumption of Giali obsidian (Dodecanese, Greece)’, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 29.1: 3-36.
- Carter, T., Grant, S., Kartal, M., Özkaya, V. and Coskun, A. (2013). ‘Networks and Neolithisation: Sourcing obsidian from Körtik Tepe (SE Anatolia)’. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(1): 556-569.
- Carter, T., Ford, R., and Grant, S. (2013). ‘A preliminary report on the Tell Nader obsidian characterisation’, in K. Kopanias, C. Beuger, T. Carter, S. Fox, A. Hadjikoumis, G. Kourtessi-Philippakis, A. Livarda and J. MacGinnis. ‘The Tell Nader and Tell Baqrta project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Preliminary report of the 2011 season’, Subartu 6-7: 23-57 [33-36, 47-49].
- Orange, M., Carter, T. and Le Bourdonnec, F.-X. (2013). ‘Sourcing obsidian from Tell Aswad and Qdeir 1 (Syria) by SEM-EDS and EDXRF: Methodological implications’, CR Palevol 12: 173-180.
- Carter, T. (2012). ‘Lithics (chipped stone and obsidian sourcing study)’, in N. Momigliano, A. Greaves, T. Hodos, B. Aksoy, A. Brown, M. Kibaroglu and T. Carter, ‘Settlement history and material culture in southwest Turkey: report on the 2008–2010 survey at Çalt1lar Höyük (northern Lycia)’, Anatolian Studies 61: 61-121 [109-112].
- Carter, T. and Contreras, D. (2012). ‘The character and use of the Soros Hill obsidian source, Antiparos (Greece)’. CR Palevol 11: 595-602.
- Stemp, W.J., Helmke, C.G.B., Awe, J.J., Carter, T. and Grant, S. (2012). ‘A green obsidian eccentric from from Actun Uayazba Kab, Belize’. Association for Mexican Cave Studies Bulletin 23(9): 111-124 [116-117].
MAX Lab's Conference Presentations
- Carter, T. (2013). ‘From Conservative to Cosmopolitan: Interrogating the Reconfiguration of Near Eastern Obsidian Exchange Networks from the Epi-Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic’. International Symposium on Chert and other Knappable Materials, Iasi, Romania.
- Freund, K.P. (2013). ‘Towards a More Developed Understanding of Lithic Reduction Sequences in Bronze Age Sardinia: New Data from Nuraghe Pidighi and Bingia ‘e Monti‘. International Symposium on Chert and other Knappable Materials, Iasi, Romania.
- Orange, M., Carter, T. and Le Bourdonnec, F.-X. (2013). ‘Sourcing obsidian By SEM-EDS and EDXRF in Neolithic Syria‘, Groupe des Méthodes Pluridisciplinaires Contribuant à l’Archéologie (GMPCA) 2013, Caen, France.
- Carter, T. (2013). ‘Obsidian Characterisation: Methods, Questions, Problems and Successes’, Department of Archaeology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
- Orange, M., Carter, T. and Le Bourdonnec, F.-X. (2013). ‘Studying Near-East obsidian from Neolithic Syria: A joint analysis by SEM-EDS and EDXRF‘. Society for American Archaeology, Annual Meeting, Hawaii, USA.
- Carter, T. (2012). ‘From conservative to cosmopolitan: Interrogating the reconfiguration of Near Eastern obsidian exchange networks from the Epi-Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic’. Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Chicago (USA), November 2012.
- Carter, T., Aubert, D., Brown, K., and Doyle, S. (2012). ‘Networking in the Neolithic: Obsidian sourcing at Abu Hureyra (N. Syria)‘. Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Chicago (USA), November 2012. [poster]
- Ford, R., Carter, T., and Healey, E. (2012). ‘Sourcing Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic obsidian from Iraq and Iran: New perspectives from Tell Nader and Yanik Tepe‘. Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Chicago (USA), November 2012.
- Freund, K., Carter, T., Contreras, D., Açlan, M., and Köse, O. (2012). ‘The character and use of the Gürgürbaba Tepe (Meydan Dag;) obsidian source, (Turkey)‘. Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Chicago (USA), November 2012.
- Carter T. and K. Brown (2012). ‘Networking in the Neolithic: Obsidian Sourcing at Abu Hureyra (N. Syria)‘. Poster for the PPN7 International Conference of Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Pre-Pottery Near Eastern Neolithic, Barcelona, 14-17 February 2012.
- Carter T., F-X. Le Bourdonnec, G. Poupeau and K. Schmidt (2012). ‘Towards an Archaeology of Pilgrimage: Sourcing Obsidian from the PPN Temple Complex of Göbekli Tepe’. 7th International Conference on the Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Barcelona, 14-17 February 2012.
- Contreras D., T. Carter, C. Makarewicz and R. Ford (2012). ‘Obsidian Circulation in PPNA: The View from Hemmeh’. 7th International Conference on the Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Barcelona, 14-17 February 2012.
- Grant S., T. CARTER, V. Özkaya and M. Kartal (2012). ‘Of Neolithisation and Regionalism: Obsidian sourcing at PPNA Körtik Tepe (SE Turkey)‘. 7th International Conference of Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Barcelona, 14-17 February 2012.
- Carter, T. (2012). ‘Through a glass darkly: Reconstructing Neolithic interaction via obsidian sourcing in the Eastern Mediterranean’, Kenneth Kidd Lecture Series, Trent University, Peterborough (Canada), January 2012.
- Carter, T., Le Bourdonnec, F.-X., Poupeau, G. and Schmidt, K. (2011). ‘Towards an archaeology of pilgrimage? Sourcing obsidian from the Neolithic temple complex of Göbekli Tepe’. Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, San Francisco (USA), November 2011.
- Grant, S., Carter, T., Kartal, M. and Özkaya, V. (2011). ‘Relationships and regionalism: Obsidian sourcing at Körtik Tepe (SE Turkey)’, Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, San Francisco (USA), November 2011.
- Brown, K. and Carter, T. (2011). ‘Networking in the Neolithic: Obsidian sourcing at Abu Hureyra (N. Syria)’, Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento (USA), April 2011 [poster].
- Freund, K., Carter, T. and Contreras, D. (2011). ‘Ancient obsidian exploitation in the Mediterranean: Giali re-examined’, Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento (USA), April 2011 [poster].
- Grant, S., Carter, T., Kartal, M. and Özkaya, V. (2011). ‘Obsidian sourcing at Körtik Tepe (SE Turkey)’, Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Sacramento (USA), April 2011 [poster].
Unearth The Depths Of Obsidian Knowledge
Dive into our rich collection of peer-reviewed articles and international conference presentations to trace the evolving story of obsidian use across cultures. Interested in discovering more about our current research?