Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1989. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

This methodological study is an attempt to develop relative chronologies for surface archaeological sites from the obsidian hydration analysis of waste flake samples. Two sites in southeastern Oregon were selected and their surface components sampled. The results of the obsidian hydration analysis indicate, that with the use of random sampling methods and general geochemical control, a fairly accurate representation of the history of an archaeological surface site can be obtained.