Brief Biography of Lab Director

Ph.D., Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 1983

M.A., Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 1977

B.A., Anthropology (With Distinction), California State College, Sonoma, 1973

Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, California State University, Sacramento, 1988-1991

Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 1983-1985

Visiting Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Sonoma State University, 1983

Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York

Research Associate, Archaeological Research Facility, University of California, Berkeley

Western North American Prehistory

Archaeological Method and Theory

Archaeometry; Geochemical Analysis

X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

Prehistoric Exchange Systems

Quantitative Methods

Over 40 years of experience in field collection and x-ray fluorescence analysis of geologic obsidian source materials and archaeological artifacts from the United States (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming), Canada, Iceland, Mesoamerica, Poland, South America, and Tibet.

1978* Aspects of Prehistoric Wiyot Exchange and Social Ranking. Journal of California Anthropology Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 53-66.

1982* Age and Exploitation of Obsidian from the Medicine Lake Highland, California. Journal of Archaeological Science Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 173-185.

1983 X-ray Fluorescence Characterization of Obsidian. In David Hurst Thomas, The Archaeology of Monitor Valley: 2. Gatecliff Shelter. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Vol. 59, Part 1, pp. 401-408.

1984 Obsidian Sourcing Studies in the Great Basin: Problems and Prospects. In Richard E. Hughes (ed.), Obsidian Studies in the Great Basin. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility No. 45, pp. 1-19. Berkeley.

1984 Obsidian and Prehistoric Sociocultural Systems in California. In Suzanne P. DeAtley and Frank J. Findlow (eds.), Exploring the Limits: Frontiers and Boundaries in Prehistory. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 223, pp.153-172. (by Richard E. Hughes and Robert L. Bettinger).

1985 Obsidian Source Use at Hidden Cave. In David Hurst Thomas, The Archaeology of Hidden Cave, Nevada. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Vol. 61, Part 1, pp. 332-353.

1985* Perspectives on the Distribution of Obsidians in San Diego County, California. North American Archaeologist Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 325-339. (by Richard E. Hughes and Delbert L. True).

1986* Trace Element Composition of Obsidian Butte, Imperial County, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences Vol. 85, No. 1, pp. 35-45.

1986* Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Obsidian from Dog Hill and Burns Butte, Oregon. Northwest Science Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 73-80.

1986* Early Trade. In Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 11, Great Basin. Warren L. d'Azevedo (ed.), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., pp. 238-255. (by Richard E. Hughes and James A. Bennyhoff).

1986* Diachronic Variability in Obsidian Procurement Patterns in Northeastern California and Southcentral Oregon. University of California Publications in Anthropology Vol. 17. Berkeley and Los Angeles.

1988* The Coso Volcanic Field Reexamined: Implications for Obsidian Sourcing and Hydration Dating Research. Geoarchaeology Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 253-265.

1989 A New Look at Mono Basin Obsidians. In Richard E. Hughes (ed.), Current Directions in California Obsidian Studies. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility No. 48, pp. 1-12. Berkeley.

1990 Obsidian Sourcing Analysis. In Dennis L. Jenkins and Thomas J. Connolly, Archaeology of Indian Grade Spring: A Special Function Site on Stinkingwater Mountain, Harney County, Oregon. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers No. 42, pp. 212-224.

1990 The Gold Hill Site: Evidence for a Prehistoric Socioceremonial System in Southwestern Oregon. In Nan Hannon and Richard K. Olmo (eds.), Living With the Land: The Indians of Southwest Oregon, pp. 48-55. Southern Oregon Historical Society, Medford.

1990 Obsidian Sources at James Creek Shelter, and Trace Element Geochemistry of Some Northeastern Nevada Volcanic Glasses. In Robert G. Elston and Elizabeth E. Budy (eds.), The Archaeology of James Creek Shelter. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 115, pp. 297-305.

1991 Obsidian Sourcing Analysis. In Thomas J. Connolly, The Standley Site (35DO182): Investigations into the Prehistory of Camas Valley, Southwest Oregon. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers No. 43, pp. 173-181.

1993* Trace Element Geochemistry of Volcanic Glass from the Obsidian Cliffs Flow, Three Sisters Wilderness, Oregon. Northwest Science Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 199-207.

1994* Intrasource Chemical Variability of Artefact-Quality Obsidians from the Casa Diablo Area, California. Journal of Archaeological Science Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 263-271.

1994* Mosaic Patterning in Prehistoric California-Great Basin Exchange. In Timothy G. Baugh and Jonathon E. Ericson (eds.), Prehistoric Exchange Systems in North America, pp. 363-383. Plenum Press, New York.

1994 Obsidian Source Analysis, Site 35WS125. In Dennis L. Jenkins and Thomas J. Connolly, Archaeological Excavations at the Paquet Gulch Bridge Site: A Pithouse Village in the Deschutes River Basin, Southwestern Columbia Plateau, Oregon. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers No. 49, pp. 191-199.

1996 Geochemical Analysis of Obsidian. In Dennis L. Jenkins and Thomas J. Connolly, Mid-Holocene Occupations at the Heath Cliffs Site, Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon. University of Oregon Anthropological Papers No. 53, pp. 187-192.

1999* Distribution of Newberry Caldera Obsidians. In Thomas J. Connolly, Newberry Crater: A Ten-Thousand-Year Record of Human Occupation and Environmental Change in the Basin-Plateau Borderlands. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 121, pp. 166-174. (by Richard E. Hughes and Thomas J. Connolly).

2001* Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from Archaeological Sites in the Carson Desert and Stillwater Mountains. In Robert L. Kelly, Prehistory of the Carson Desert and Stillwater Mountains. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 123, pp. 241-250.

2003* Lithic Source Use and Paleoarchaic Foraging Territories in the Great Basin. American Antiquity Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 5-38. (by George T. Jones, Charlotte Beck, Eric E. Jones, and Richard E. Hughes).

2005* Determination of the Geologic Sources for Obsidian Artifacts from Camels Back Cave and Trace Element Analysis of Some Western Utah and Eastern Nevada Volcanic Glasses. In Dave N. Schmitt and David B. Madsen, Camels Back Cave. University of Utah Anthropological Papers No. 125, pp. 249-256.

2005* Proximity and Provenance: A Lesson from the Sterling Cache, Idaho. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 221-225. (by Richard E. Hughes and Max G. Pavesic).

2010* Trace Element Characterisation of Archaeologically Significant Volcanic Glasses from the Southern Great Basin of North America. In Yaroslav V. Kuzmin and Michael D. Glascock (eds.), Crossing the Straits: Prehistoric Obsidian Source Exploitation in the North Pacific Rim, pp. 165-180. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 2152. Archaeopress, Oxford.

2014* Long-Term Continuity and Change in Obsidian Conveyance at Danger Cave, Utah. In Nancy J. Parezo and Joel C. Janetski (eds.) Archaeology in the Great Basin and Southwest: Papers in Honor of Don D. Fowler , pp. 210-225. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

2015* Prehistoric Obsidian Conveyance in the Eastern Great Basin: Evidence from Hogup and Danger Caves, Utah. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Vol. 4, pp. 293-309.

2018* Obsidian Studies in California Archaeology. Quaternary International Vol. 482, pp. 67-82.

2020* A Late Period Pomo Site (CA-SON-1455) Near Fort Ross, California. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 53-71. (by Glenn J. Farris, Christina Swiden, Richard E. Hughes, Mark Hylkema, and Thomas Origer).

2020* Geochemical Identification of the Sources for Alta Toquima Obsidian Projectile Points. In: David Hurst Thomas, Alpine Archaeology of Alta Toquima and the Mt. Jefferson Tablelands (Nevada), pp. 289-334. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History No. 104.

2021* Material Conveyance in the Southern California Bight: Obsidian on California’s Channel Islands. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, Vol. 16, Nos. 2-4, pp. 195-212. (by Kristina M. Gill, Jon M. Erlandson, Richard E. Hughes, Thomas Origer, Alexander K. Rogers, and René L. Vellanowith).

2022* Obsidian Projectile Point Conveyance Patterns in the Lower Humboldt Valley, Nevada. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History No. 105.

1993 Obsidian Source Characterization of Paleoindian Projectile Points from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Current Research in the Pleistocene Vol. 10, pp. 54-56. (by Kenneth P. Cannon and Richard E. Hughes).

1997* Provenance Analysis of Obsidian Paleoindian Projectile Points from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Current Research in the Pleistocene Vol. 14, pp. 101-104. (by Kenneth P. Cannon and Richard E. Hughes).

2004 Revision and Reevaluation of the Geological Sources of Archaeological Obsidian in the Flint Creek Valley Area, Montana. Archaeology in Montana Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 83-89 (by Patricia R. Flint-Lacey and Richard E. Hughes).

2007 Provenance Analysis of Obsidian. In George C. Frison and Danny N. Walker (eds.), Medicine Lodge Creek: Holocene Archaeology of the Eastern Big Horn Basin, Wyoming, Volume 1, pp. 231-244. Clovis Press Press, Avondale, CO

2007* Major Revision of Geological Source Attributions for Obsidian Artifacts from Veratic Rockshelter, Idaho. Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 10-21.

2009* Geochemical Analysis of Obsidian from the DeMoss Site, Western Idaho: Implications for the Western Idaho Archaic Burial Complex. Journal of Northwest Anthropology, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 117-124. (by Richard E. Hughes and Max G. Pavesic).

2015* Clovis in Idaho: An Update on its Distribution, Technology, and Chronology. In Clovis: On the Edge of a New Understanding, edited by Ashley M. Smallwood and Thomas A. Jennings, pp. 83-81. Texas A&M University Press, College Station. (by Kenneth C. Reid, Richard E. Hughes, Matthew J. Root, and Michael F. Rondeau)

2018* An Investigation of Prehistoric Volcanic Glass Use in the Birch Creek Valley of Eastern Idaho. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 75-86. (by Brooke S. Arkush and Richard E. Hughes)

2019* The Seagull Bay Site- Clovis Technology from American Falls on the Eastern Snake River Plain. North American Archaeologist Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 148-166. (by Charles A. Speer, Kenneth C. Reid, Matthew J. Root, and Richard E. Hughes).

2020 Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Obsidian from Two Archaeological Sites at Givens Hot Springs, Southwestern Idaho. In: Thomas J. Green, Excavations at Givens Hot Springs: A Middle to Late Archaic Pithouse Settlement on the Snake River in Southwest Idaho. Journal of Northwest Anthropology Memoir 18, pp. 157-169.

1987* New Findings on Obsidian Source Utilization in Iowa. Plains Anthropologist Vol. 32, No. 117, pp. 313-316.(by Richard E. Hughes and Fred W. Nelson).

1988* Archaeological Significance of Geochemical Contrasts Among Southwestern New Mexico Obsidians. Texas Journal of Science Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 297-307.

1988* Notes on Obsidian from the Fort Hood Area of Central Texas. Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society Vol. 59, pp. 193-199.

1991* Provenance Analysis of Obsidian from Two Late Prehistoric Archaeological Sites in Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science Vol. 94, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 38-45. (by Richard E. Hughes and William B. Lees).

1995* Source Identification of Obsidian from the Trowbridge Site (14WY1), a Hopewellian Site in Kansas. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 105-113.

1999* Source Area Analysis of Obsidian Flakes from a Lower Loup Phase Site in Nebraska. Plains Anthropologist Vol. 44, No. 167, pp. 77-82 (by Richard E. Hughes and Donna C. Roper).

2001* Western Oneota Obsidian: Sources and Implications. Plains Anthropologist Vol. 46, No. 175, pp. 55-64. (by Brad Logan, Richard E. Hughes, and Dale R. Henning).

2009* Geochemical Evidence for a Mexican Source of Origin for an Obsidian Artifact from South Central Texas. Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society Vol. 80, pp. 77-84. (by Richard E. Hughes and Thomas R. Hester).

2014* Source Analysis of Obsidian Debitage from Two Early Archaic Sites in Nebraska. Plains Anthropologist Vol. 59 (229): 58-68. (by Donna C. Roper and Richard E. Hughes).

2019* Investigating Dismal River Phase Obsidian Use in Central Nebraska. Plains Anthropologist Vol. 64 (No. 251), pp. 257-274. (by Richard E. Hughes, Phil R. Geib, and Courtney L.C. Ziska).

2020* Evidence for Late Paleoindian Scavenging of Early Paleoindian Obsidian, Oklahoma Panhandle. PaleoAmerica Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 194-198. (by Leland C. Bement, Dakota Larrick, Richard E. Hughes, and Kristen Carlson).

1992* Another Look at Hopewell Obsidian Studies. American Antiquity Vol. 57, No. 3, pp. 515-523.

1997* Identification of the Geologic Sources for Obsidian Artifacts from Three Middle Woodland Sites in the American Bottom, Illinois. Illinois Archaeology Vol. 9, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 79-92. (by Richard E. Hughes and Andrew C. Fortier).

2004* Obsidian in Early Woodland Contexts in the Upper Mississippi Valley. American Antiquity Vol. 69, No. 4, pp. 751-759. (by James B. Stoltman and Richard E. Hughes).

2006* The Sources of Hopewell Obsidian: Forty Years After Griffin. In Douglas K. Charles and Jane E. Buikstra (eds.), Recreating Hopewell, pp. 361-375. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

2007 The Geologic Sources for Obsidian Artifacts from Minnesota Archaeological Sites. The Minnesota Archaeologist Vol. 66, pp. 53-68.

2007* Trace Element Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts from Six Archaeological Sites in Illinois. Illinois Archaeology Vol. 19, pp. 144-157. (by Richard E. Hughes and Andrew C. Fortier).

1992* Archaeological Distribution and Trace Element Geochemistry of Volcanic Glass from Obsidian Cove, Suemez Island, Southeast Alaska. Canadian Journal of Archaeology Vol. 16, pp. 89-95. (by Jon M. Erlandson, Madonna L. Moss, and Richard E. Hughes).

1996* The Irish Creek Site: Evidence for a Mid-Holocene Microblade Component on the Northern Northwest Coast. Canadian Journal of Archaeology Vol. 20, pp. 75-92. (by Madonna L. Moss, Jon M. Erlandson, R. Scott Byram and Richard E. Hughes).

2020* Microblade Technology, Obsidian Sourcing, and the Cody Complex in Early Holocene Alberta. Plains Anthropologist Vol. 65 (No. 254), pp. 88-120. (by Martin P. R. Magne, Richard E. Hughes, and Todd J. Kristensen).

2004* Preclassic Obsidian Procurement and Utilization at the Maya Site of Colha, Belize. Latin American Antiquity Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 222-240. (by David O. Brown, Meredith L. Dreiss, and Richard E. Hughes).

2009* Geochemical Identification of the Source for Obsidian Artifacts from the Viking Settlement at Hofstaðir in Mývatnssveit, Northeastern Iceland. Archaeologia Islandica Vol. 7, pp. 41-54. (by Richard E. Hughes and Gavin M. Lucas).

2014* The Source of Late Mesolithic Obsidian Recovered from RydnoXIII/1959, Central Poland. Archeologia Polski LIX(1-2), pp. 31-46. (by Richard E. Hughes and Dagmara H. Werra).

2018* On the Sources and Uses of Obsidian During the Paleolithic and Mesolithic in Poland. Quaternary International Vol. 468, pp. 84-100. (by Richard E. Hughes, Dagmara H. Werra, and Zofia Sulgostowska).

2021* Obsidian Source Use Within the Alföld Linear Pottery Culture in Slovakia. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, Vol. 73, No. 1, pp. 331-369. (by Dagmara H. Werra, Richard E. Hughes, Marek Nowak, Marián Vizdal, and Lýdia Gačková).

2024* An Early Neolithic House in the Foothills: A Case Study of Pottery and Lithic Artifacts from the Biskupice Site 18 (Wieliczka Foothills, Southern Poland). (by Magdalena Moskal-del Hoyo, Marta Korczyńska-Cappenberg, Robert Kenig, Anna Rauba-Bukowsk, Mélanie Roffet-Salque, Charlie A. Maule, Dagmara H. Werra, Richard E. Hughes, Magda Kapcia, Jarosław Wilczyński, Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny, Anna Głód, and Marek Nowak). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 53 (104346), pp. 1-18.

1992 Northern California Obsidian Studies: Some Thoughts and Observations on the First Two Decades. Proceedings of the Society for California Archaeology Vol. 5, pp. 113-122.

1993* Archaeology, Geology and Geochemistry in Obsidian Provenance Studies. In Julie K. Stein and Angela R. Linse (eds.), Effects of Scale on Archaeological and Geoscientific Perspectives. Geological Society of America Special Paper 283, pp. 79-91. (by Richard E. Hughes and Robert L. Smith).

1997* Obsidian Hydration Dating. In R. E. Taylor and Martin J. Aitken (eds.), Chronometric Dating in Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological and Museum Science Vol. 2, pp. 297-321. Plenum Press, New York. (by Irving Friedman, Fred W. Trembour and Richard E. Hughes).

1998* On Reliability, Validity and Scale in Obsidian Sourcing Research. In Ann F. Ramenofsky and Anastasia Steffen (eds.), Unit Issues in Archaeology: Measuring Time, Space, and Material, pp. 103-114. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

2007* Prehistoric Material Conveyance. In Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar (eds.), California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity , pp. 259-271. Altamira Press, Lanham, MD. (by Richard E. Hughes and Randall Milliken).

2010* Determining the Geologic Provenance of Tiny Obsidian Flakes in Archaeology Using Nondestructive EDXRF. American Laboratory Vol. 42, No. 7, pp. 27-31.

2011* Sources of Inspiration for Studies of Prehistoric Resource Acquisition and Materials Conveyance in California and the Great Basin. In Richard E. Hughes (ed.), Perspectives on Prehistoric Trade and Exchange in California and the Great Basin, pp. 1-21. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

2016* Chemical and Visual Analysis of Flint from Gotland and Öland. Fornvännen Vol. 111, pp. 145-152. (by Anders Högberg, Richard E. Hughes, and Deborah Olausson).

2016* Erratic Flint from Poland: Preliminary Results of Petrographic and Geochemical Analyses. Archaeologia Polona Vol. 54, pp. 67-82. (by Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka, Dagmara H. Werra, Richard E. Hughes, and Rafał Siuda).

2016* On the Chemical Composition of “Chocolate” Flint from Central Poland. Archaeologia Polona Vol. 54, pp. 99-114. (by Richard E. Hughes, Dagmara H. Werra, and Rafał Siuda).

2009* Trace Element Analysis of Fused Shale: Implications for Revised Understanding of Obsidian Source-Use Shifts in Southern Coastal Alta California. California Archaeology, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 29-53. (by Richard E. Hughes and Polly A. Peterson).

2010* Sourcing Flint from Sweden and Denmark: A Pilot Study Employing Non-Destructive Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry. Journal of Nordic Archaeological Science Vol. 17, pp. 15-25. (by Richard E. Hughes, Anders Högberg, and Deborah Olausson).

2012* The Chemical Composition of Some Archaeologically Significant Flint from Denmark and Sweden. Archaeometry Vol. 54, No. 5, pp. 779-795. (by Richard E. Hughes, Anders Högberg, and Deborah Olausson).

2012* Many Different Types of Scandinavian Flint: Visual Classification and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence. Fornvännen Vol. 107, pp. 225-240. (by Anders Högberg, Deborah Olausson, and Richard E. Hughes).

2012* A New Look at Bjurselet and the Neolithic Flint Axe Caches from Västerbotten, Sweden, Using Non-Destructive Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis for Provenance Determination. Acta Archaeologica Vol. 83, pp. 83-103. (by Deborah Olausson, Richard E. Hughes, and Anders Högberg).

2013* Comparing Polish and Scandinavian Flint Using Visual and Chemical Analysis: Some Preliminary Results. Fornvännen Vol. 108, pp. 257-262. (by Anders Högberg, Richard E. Hughes, and Deborah Olausson).