pXRF (Other Keyword)
1-25 (58 Records)
We report on stone tool patterns derived from several recent archaeological excavation projects in Central Texas that provide a record of lithic use spanning most of the prehistoric sequence in the region. The projects, located within a few kilometers of one another, effectively sample debitage and tools reflecting Late Paleoindian, Early and Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, and the Terminal Late Prehistoric periods. Supported by several radiocarbon dates, these assemblages span roughly 10,000...
Advances In Laboratory and Field Use Of Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) and LASAR ABLATION-ICPMS (LA-ICP-MS) Technologies In Field Archaeological And Combined Survey Format (CSF) Surveys (2018)
Major advances in the Laboratory and Field Use of Portable X-Rarchaeologyay Fluorescence (pXRF) and the newly developed LASAR ABLATION ICP-MS (ICP-MS) in archaeology are enabling investigators to gain new insights into the elemental and chemical content of laboratory and field samples of artifact, soil and plant materials. Many of these advances have come directly from laboratory studies and field geochemical investigations initiatiated by mineral industry and governmental organizations and...
Altica and the Role of Middlemen in Formative Obsidian Exchange (2017)
Altica’s location, in the Patlachique Range 10 km away from the Otumba obsidian source, suggests a potentially significant role in the distribution of Otumba obsidian. Altica may have served as an important middleman and processing site in Formative obsidian exchange, but a greater understanding of the nature of these exchange relationships is required to define this role. This paper combines geochemical sourcing and technological data from obsidian from nine Early and Middle Formative sites,...
Analysis of metallurgical artefacts using pXRF: Understanding metalwork during the contact period in Colombia (2015)
The encounter between the Americas and Europe has been extensively studied. In these studies, gold and silver, its looting, mining and trading are usually the focus of attention. However, the characteristics of metalwork after the conquest have inspired fewer investigations. In this paper I present the results of analyses of samples of metallic and ceramic artifacts, using portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (pXRF). These artifacts belong to past metallurgical activities, and were found in...
Archaic and Formative Period Obsidian Exchange on the coast of Guerrero, Mexico (2015)
Long-distance trade of obsidian formed an essential part of inter-regional Archaic and Formative Period Mesoamerican economies (~3,500 BC-AD 250). We analyzed obsidian artifacts (n=522) from Late Archaic through Late Formative Period deposits at the sites of Puerto Marques and La Zanja in the Acapulco Bay region of Guerrero, Mexico using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to assess the economic importance of different obsidian sources through time. The presence of obsidian artifacts at Puerto...
Calibrating pXRF instruments for chert provenance: A how-to from the Anatolian Plateau (2015)
In the past decade, a tremendous increase in the use of portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) instruments in archaeological provenance research has warranted several critical reflections on the analytical protocols which underpin their application in various material and regional contexts. This paper approaches the use of pXRF analysis for determining chert provenance with particular emphasis placed on tailoring empirical calibrations to best suit the dynamic properties of chert materials. In so...
Chert Characterization and Provenance in the mid-Fraser Region of British Columbia (2015)
Globally, chert is the most common rock material found in archaeological contexts. Its prevalence on the Earth’s surface in Quaternary deposits and relative abundance in archaeological contexts indicate that it was an important resource material for ancient populations and, as such, can provide information about toolstone exploitation in prehistory. The results of this research suggest a local origin for the chert artefacts recovered from ST 109 at the Keatley Creek site (EeRl-7) in the...
Comparative Compositional Analysis of Parkin Phase Red-slipped Pottery and Red Ochre Deposits Using PXRF and Petrography (2017)
Portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) was used in conjunction with petrographic analysis of ceramic thin sections to characterize a sample of red-slipped potsherds from selected late Mississippian sites in northeast Arkansas. Data from this analysis is compared to a similar characterization of two separate hematite rich deposits from the same region. Results are used to evaluate the potential of this type of analysis to distinguish ochre sources from one another and to identify deposits that were...
Compositional Analysis of Roman and Late Medieval Terracotta Figurines found in Worms (antique Borbetomagus) (2017)
Nondestructive XRF was used to provenance Roman and 15th century molded figurines found in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). Three Roman kiln areas with waster material of various kinds of cooking and dining pottery were detected, but no coroplastics. Two kiln areas provided sherds with a highly uniform paste pattern identical to Roman amphora and roof tiles formerly analyzed by destructive WD-XRF, and supposed to be produced in Borbetomagus. A third kiln additionally contained utilitarian...
Copper And Copper-Alloy Artifacts On The Borderlands Of New Spain- The COTBONS Project At 5 (2022)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In the 55 years since the founding of the SHA, copper and copper-alloy vessels and other objects associated with the Spanish colonial and Mexican Republican borderlands in North America have received scant attention from archaeologists. To rectify this shortcoming in 2017 the “Copper on the Borderlands of New Spain” or COTBONS...
Copper On The Borderlands Of New Spain...It's Complicated (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Meaning in Material Culture" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Copper vessels are an understudied artifact category for students of the Spanish colonial experience. At the 2018, SHA New Orleans meeting the promise and problems associated with the analysis of copper vessels was discussed. This included forms, uses, nomenclature, and fabrication. In that presentation, copper vessels from the Southeast U.S. and Texas...
The Copper Trade of Hatteras Island (2015)
Excavations at the early contact Native American site on Hatteras Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina has yielded a number of copper artefacts in the course of the past six years of excavation. The excavations were run in conjunction with the University of Bristol and the Croatoan Archaeology Society in order to examine historic environment and settlement patterns of the island, as well as analyse the site’s material culture of both the local Croatoan natives and the European imports. Analyses...
Determining Battle Lines: a pXRF study of lead shot from the Battle of Palo Alto. (2016)
In 2012-2013, the Southeast Archeological Center undertook a project to analyze the chemical composition of the lead shot recovered from their recent archaeological surveys at Palo Alto National Historical Park, site of the first battle of the U.S.-Mexican War. Using a portable x-ray fluorescence machine, 771 lead shot samples were analyzed in order to ascertain whether there was a difference in the chemical makeup between the lead shot that had been previously identified, using traditional...
Determining the Provenance of Suwannee Chert: A PXRF and Microscopic Analyses Case Study from Northwest Florida (2015)
This work presents results on the use of microscopic and PXRF analyses for determining Suwannee chert provenance. Traditionally, analysis of the diagnostic microfossils, fabric, and inclusions in Florida cherts has allowed for successful sourcing of lithic raw materials to a distinct quarry cluster within a specific limestone formation. Instrument analysis has not been pursued due to its prohibitive cost, and trace-elemental analysis has been discouraged because of the inherent difficulty...
Differentiating burial contexts at Russell Cave, Alabama: pXRF and dental analyses (2016)
The 1956-8 National Geographic funded and Smithsonian sponsored excavations within Russell Cave and the nearby stone mound uncovered six cave and twelve mound burials, respectively. During the 2011 osteological inventory, two burials comprised of maxillary and mandibular fragments were found labeled "A" and "B" with neither cave nor mound context identification. This study employs elemental analysis of soil associated with individual burials as well as dental comparisons to identify the contexts...
Direct Comparison of LA-ICP-MS and Handheld XRF Elemental Analysis of Copper Artifacts: A Methodological Case Study in the Exploration of Hopewell Valuables Exchange Systems (2017)
We evaluate the sensitivity of handheld X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analysis in reliable identification of geological sources of copper artifacts with varying levels of corrosion. As part of a larger project, we analyzed 52 copper artifacts and dozens of copper samples from known geological sources with Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) (Hill et al. 2016), and analysis of the same source samples with pXRF. In both of these previous analyses, we have achieved...
Eastern Beringian Toolstone Procurement: Investigations of Fine-Grained Volcanics in the Nenana Valley, Interior Alaska. (2017)
Investigating prehistoric landscape use is significant in understanding adaptive strategies in the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene. One way to begin to address landscape use is through lithic procurement and selection studies; these are significant in understanding prehistoric human behavior because procurement and selection behaviors shape toolkits, mobile strategies and settlement patterns. An initial step in addressing these problems is attempted through examining lithic artifacts from...
Establishing Chemical Signatures for Cabuza Style Pottery and the Tiwanaku Tradition Using Portable X-ray Florescence (pXRF) (2015)
Portable X-ray Florescence (pXRF)was used to analyze the chemical composition of 60 Tiwanaku and derived style ceramic sherds from different locations in the south central Andes. The results indicate that there are four distinct geochemical groups and that the local Cabuza style pottery from survey collections in the Azapa Valley in Chile has a distinct chemical composition from all other Tiwanaku tradition ceramics. The results also indicate that pXRF is a viable technique for distinguishing...
Ethics and In-situ Science (2015)
The process of archaeological excavation is in itself destructive and excavators can and do cause irreparable damage and the demolition of site context. Archaeological ethics reacts to protect artefacts and sites that are in danger of destruction or loss. The desire to protect cultural heritage causes many ethical theorists to suggest that artefacts must not be recovered at all from their contexts. However to allow the find to remain in the ground opens it up to theft, destruction and loss just...
Examination of Mural Pigments with Portable XRF in the Caves of Eastern Guerrero with Comparisons to Local Colonial Lienzos and Documents (2017)
Rock art is now recognized as a key component of cultural expression in prehistory and a variety of new techniques have been developed to offer more insight into this area of archaeological expression. Here, we present our findings from the use of portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis at cave sites in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. The authors offer a scientific basis for deriving inference regarding the process of rock art creation in several caves located in eastern Guerrero through the...
Exploration in portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) applications to zooarchaeology (2015)
Current research in portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) applications for archaeological research constantly attempts to push the boundaries of what this technology can accomplish. Although research involving lithics, glass, metals and ceramics remain the most common venues of investigation, bone has also become an innovative focus of inquiry. However, because it has been studied significantly less than these other forms of material culture there is still much that is unknown in terms of how...
Exploration of Wet and Dry Portable X-ray Fluorescence for Archaeochemical Prospection: A Pilot Study in Comparative Method (2015)
Geoscience approaches are being applied for prospection and intra-site analysis with increasing frequency in a variety of contexts around the world. There currently are a variety of archaeochemical procedures in use, each of which suffers from inherent limitations Colorimetric measurement is limited in the number of elements measured simultaneously. Inductively Coupled Plasma techniques are expensive and restricted to a narrow range of institutions. Yet the recent availability of Portable...
Fuzzy Numbers or Publishable Data? An intra-instrument test of pXRF Calibration Techniques on obsidian from Highland Mexico (2016)
Archaeological applications of portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (pXRF) have increased over the last decade due to the instruments' low cost, ease of operation, and decreased analysis time. Obsidian provenance studies utilizing pXRF are now a common approach to answering questions regarding resource access and/or trade relationships in many regions and sub-disciplines of archaeology. Despite this increased popularity, the validity and accuracy of this device and the results derived from...
Geochemical Evidence for Pigment Sources from El Purgatorio, Peru (2016)
Portable X-ray fluorescence was used to analyze raw pigments as well as paints on ceramics and adobes found at El Purgatorio, the capital city of the Casma state. This analysis showed that, in addition to the common red ochre found in the area, cinnabar was also present. This mercurial compound has a distinctive fluorescence and is not common to area, supporting Casma participation in long distance exchange networks. Further analyses showed manganese present in black paints and calcium in the...
Get the Lead Out: Towards Identifying Lead on Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth Century Battlefields and Settlements (2016)
Small arms ammunition in America, throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, consisted of round soft-metal balls. These were mostly lead, although archaeologists have documented other metals such as pewter and silver as additives. Available small arms and related ammunition varied by military unit, and included pistols, rifles, trade guns, carbines, fowlers, and large caliber wall guns, as well as American, French and English muskets. Macroscopic identification of associated bullets alone...