Archaeologists have identified a massive prehistoric trade network dubbed the Jasper and Obsidian Corridor, which linked the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic coast over 5,000 years ago. Using neutron activation analysis, the team traced high-quality jasper from the Appalachian highlands and obsidian from volcanic sources in the northeast to burial sites across the Ohio River Valley.
The study suggests that these ancient communities maintained sophisticated logistics for transporting lithic materials over thousands of miles. The findings redraw the map of early North American interaction, proving that the transport of prestige goods was far more organized and extensive during the Archaic period than previously understood.