Abstract:
Agate was one of the ancient world’s premier prestige goods, especially the red-orange variety known as carnelian. The stone was utilized by and traded between
societies from Africa to eastern Asia (Inizan 1993; Insollet al. 2004; Theunissen et al. 2000). In this paper, we present the results of a series of instrumental neutron activation analyses (INAA) of agate samples and artifacts from sources and/or sites in the Indus, Helmand, and Thailand regions. This study represents the beginning of a broad-scale, long-term project aimed at identifying Old World agate sources and the regional and inter-regional trade networks through which this important stone was exchanged in both raw and finished form.