Archaeologists' access to analytical infrastructure has grown exponentially over the last two decades. This is especially the case for benchtop X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and portable XRF (pXRF) instruments, which are now practically commonplace in archaeological laboratories and provide users with a non-destructive and rapid means to analyze the elemental compositions of archaeological specimens. As XRF has become more accessible, the volume of analytical measurements available in archaeological datasets as well as the number and diversity of researchers participating in data collection have inherently increased. Those researchers, who have various levels of experience with the nuances of lithic sourcing procedures, are also often the ones attempting to interpret the elemental data they produce. While standardized analytical procedures have enabled inexperienced analysts to take accurate and reproducible XRF measurements, interpreting the resulting data is more difficult to convert and standardize with the same degree of user-friendliness. To address this challenge, we have bundled a series of statistical approaches and data exploration tools into an intuitive open-source graphical user interface designed to facilitate reproducible and robust outcomes during lithic sourcing studies. Our application, SourceXplorer, permits easy access to and exploration of numeric baseline data using a map interface while facilitating a guided interpretation of source affiliations for archaeological specimens (e.g., lithics) within any natural context using multivariate statistical analyses. We demonstrate SourceXplorer's functionality in relation to a complex archaeological challenge by examining evidence for the procurement and use of lithic material from previously undocumented toolstone source locations in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. We also provide open access to SourceXplorer, including both a deployed version of the application that can be used with any Internet browser and the packaged script, which can be run locally in the open-source R statistical programming environment.

在过去的二十年里，考古学家对分析基础设施的访问呈指数级增长。台式 X 射线荧光 (XRF) 和便携式 XRF (pXRF) 仪器尤其如此，这些仪器现在在考古实验室中非常普遍，为用户提供了一种无损且快速的方法来分析考古标本的元素组成。随着 XRF 变得更容易获得，考古数据集中可用的分析测量量以及参与数据收集的研究人员的数量和多样性自然而然地增加了。那些对岩石采购程序的细微差别有不同程度经验的研究人员也经常试图解释他们产生的元素数据。虽然标准化的分析程序使没有经验的分析人员能够进行准确和可重复的 XRF 测量，但解释结果数据更难转换和标准化，同时具有相同程度的用户友好性。为了应对这一挑战，我们将一系列统计方法和数据探索工具捆绑到一个直观的开源图形用户界面中，旨在促进在 lithic 采购研究期间获得可重复和可靠的结果。我们的应用程序 SourceXplorer 允许使用地图界面轻松访问和探索数字基线数据，同时使用多元统计分析在任何自然环境中促进对考古标本（例如，石块）的来源隶属关系的指导解释。我们演示 SourceXplorer' 通过检查从加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省西南部以前未记录的工具石源位置采购和使用石质材料的证据，了解与复杂考古挑战相关的功能。我们还提供对 SourceXplorer 的开放访问，包括可与任何 Internet 浏览器一起使用的应用程序的部署版本和可在开源 R 统计编程环境中本地运行的打包脚本。