A New Nevada Obsidian Source: Robinson Summit

This source blended so well into the background that it was only today that we realized that it even existed.  Daron Duke (Far Western Anthropological Research Group) recently sent us a couple of obsidian source nodules that he had found during a survey not far east of Jakes Valley near Robinson Summit.  Daron mentioned that the obsidian was rarely found in the alluvial deposits leading westwards from the Robinson Summit area down into Jakes Valley.  Subsequent XRF analysis this morning indicates that it's a brand new source that we didn't even realize we were missing!  The trace element composition is very similar to that of the Montezuma Range source (strontium levels are a bit more elevated) located near Tonopah and the two sources could be easily confused.  A search of the lab database revealed only a single possible artifact match for the Robinson Summit source, an item that had been misassigned as Montezuma Range during the analysis of a large number of artifacts from Butte Valley (located just east of Jakes Valley).  Once again, luck proves to be one of our most effective analytical tools.