Archaeometry & Materials Analysis: XRF/pXRF (Other Keyword)
51-75 (143 Records)
Geochemical provenance analysis of obsidian is a productive avenue for studying social interaction and lithic raw material procurement strategies in the U.S. Southwest. Here the results of the analysis of 180 obsidian artifacts recovered from 76 Draw, a Medio period (A.D.1200 to 1450) settlement in New Mexico are presented. The combined assemblage reflects local geochemical sources, as well as obsidian from more distant geochemical sources often seen in assemblages associated with the Ancestral...
Geosourcing and Geopolitics: Handheld XRF Analysis of Obsidian from Households in the Yaxuna-Coba Region (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster presents results of sourcing analysis of artifacts from Classic period Maya sites in Northern Yucatán and Quintana Roo from household contexts using handheld X-ray fluorescence (hXRF). Previous analysis by Danielle Waite sourced artifacts from Coba and Yaxuna from excavations by the Proyecto de Interacción Política del Centro de Yucatán and...
Get the Lead Out! Establishing a Global Database for the Elemental Analysis of Roundball Ammunition (2018)
Archaeologists with the LAMAR Institute and the National Park Service collaborated in an ambitious undertaking to characterize the elemental composition of round ball ammunition from early historic sites. Researchers used portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) technology to sample the elemental content of over 500 round balls from more than 17 different archaeological sites in eastern North America. These include samples from Native American and Euro-American settlements as well as French and Indian...
Green Epidote: Painting the Past in Cerro de Oro, a Chemical and Mineralogical Analysis of the Green-Yellowish Ceramic Pigment (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Developments through Time on the South Coast of Peru: In Memory of Patrick Carmichael" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The following study proposes to analyze one of the most characteristic pigments of the Cañete Valley during the Middle Horizon period; specifically, the green-yellowish color in the Cerro de Oro ceramic repertoire. Defining the origin and use of this pigment allows for a better understanding of the...
A History Cast in Stone: Geochemical Chert Sourcing Using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF) in Southern Ontario (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. To test the validity of portable X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF) for chert sourcing, thirty-two chert artifacts from the Waterloo Regional Museum in southern Ontario were compared to chert source samples. The use of PXRF in archaeology has raised questions about the method’s validity. The portable versions of XRF have lower energy outputs which in turn produces...
Imports and Outcrops: Characterizing the Baantu Obsidian Source and Artifacts from Mochena Borago Rockshelter, Wolaita, Ethiopia, Using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in Material Sourcing and Provenience Studies in Africa" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Forty-two obsidian samples from the Baantu obsidian source, including 25 outcrop samples and 17 surface artifacts, were characterized using portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. These source data were then compared to 116 obsidian artifacts from Mochena Borago Rockshelter, excavated from levels dated to >50 ka BP...
In-Field XRF of Obsidian from Sites in the Lion Mountain Community of West-Central New Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Lion Mountain Community of west-central New Mexico is the largest and most easterly example of what has been described as a Zuni Region phenomena. A focus of this research is examining interactions both within the community and the broader region. In contrast to other lines of evidence, such as architecture and ceramic typology, in-field ED-XRF analysis of...
In-Situ pXRF Analysis of Episodic Pictograph Production (2018)
Yokuts ethnography indicates that pictograph sites passed from father to son to grandson within shamanic lineages, suggesting episodic painting at these locations. This practice is archaeologically supported by motif superimpositions and minor stylistic differences at sites. An in-situ pXRF study of red motifs was conducted at site CA-TUL-2871, Springville, CA, in the hopes of analytically distinguishing painting episodes, based on the assumption that chemically dissimilar pigments may have been...
Inca Stone Sources, Quarrying, and Transport (2019)
This is an abstract from the "How Did the Inca Construct Cuzco?" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stone was fundamental to building Cuzco and there was significant variability in the sources and sizes of stones employed. To understand the history of construction, we must take into account relationships with the people and resources of the wider region, which impacted where the stones originated and how they were worked, transported, and used....
Influence and Exchange: A Technical Study of Colonial Period Ivories from the Philippines (2019)
This is an abstract from the "From Materials to Materiality: Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts Using Non-destructive and Micro/Nano-sampling Scientific Methods" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper focuses on the early phases of a technical study of the polychrome and gilding on colonial period ivory sculptures produced in the Philippines and transported into Mexico via an annual trade network known as the...
Insights into Early Medieval Irish Glass: Preliminary Findings, Promises, and Limitations of an Archaeometric Analysis (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Glass is a common find on early medieval Irish sites, having been found in association with native Irish settlement-enclosures, monastic centers, and Viking towns. Evidence for secondary production (the recycling and reworking of existing glass to form new objects) has been identified for each of these site types. No evidence for primary production (making...
Interpreting Recycling in the Roman Glass from Colchester (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. By the time of the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43, the Roman glass industry had reached its height, largely due to the development of a glass-blowing technique which allowed glass vessels to be produced in greater quantities and variety of shapes contributing to its wider use. Antimony, a decolorizer used in the glass industry of Egypt produced the...
Ixtepeque Obsidian and the Polity: a Network and Boundary Approach in Southeastern Mesoamerica (2019)
This is an abstract from the "I Love Sherds and Parasites: A Festschrift in Honor of Pat Urban and Ed Schortman" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Edward Schortman and Patricia Urban (2012) borrow theoretical approaches from Bruno Latour (1996), Giddens (1984), and Bourdieu (1977) to highlight networks of shared inter-elite interaction in southeastern Mesoamerica that interpenetrate ethnic and political boundaries. The following paper builds upon...
Judging a Vessel by Its Surface: Investigating Production Process in Corinthian Ceramics through Use of Multiple Non-invasive Instruments (2019)
This is an abstract from the "From Materials to Materiality: Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts Using Non-destructive and Micro/Nano-sampling Scientific Methods" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Evidence of ceramic production techniques, such as multiphase firing utilized by 4th-century BCE Greek potters, can be observed through use of non-invasive instrumentation. Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF),...
Just Up the Hill and Not Down the Line: Ancestral Pueblo Obsidian Use at the Source (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeologies of the Eastern Jemez Mountain Range and the Pajarito Plateau: Interagency Collaboration for Management of Cultural Landscapes" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The rich obsidian deposits found in the Jemez Mountains were utilized by all peoples in prehistory, including the Ancestral Pueblo groups who called the mountains home. For most of the geochemically-distinct geologic deposits of obsidian originating...
The Late Introduction of Metals in Southern Italy: Studies from Sicily and Calabria (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Metallurgy arrived quite late in Calabria, Sicily and Malta compared other regions, including the same Italian peninsula. Current hypotheses include an allogenous origin of metallurgy, brought by Aegean merchants, and an indigenous origin due to the presence of mines. The delicate state of many metals has prevented destructive analyses, but it has been...
The Lithic Landscape of the Nenana Valley: Investigating Land-Use and Toolstone Procurement Activities in Interior Alaska (2018)
Investigating prehistoric landscape use is significant in answering questions about the adaptive strategies and behaviors of prehistoric Beringians. How can we define the lithic landscape? How did humans provision themselves in eastern Beringia, and how did these provisioning behaviors change through time? Toolstone procurement and selection behaviors influence toolkits, mobility, and settlement strategies; therefore, they are important in explaining prehistoric behavioral adaptation and the...
Lithic Technology in Spanish Colonial Dixon, New Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper, I explore the lithic technology used in the Spanish colonial outpost of Dixon (or Embudo), New Mexico, before the arrival of the Chili railroad line in 1877. With limited access to metal, the Spanish colonists turned to the native technology of lithic tool production to overcome this absence. By focusing specifically on the obsidian found in...
Long-Distance Exchange of Emeralds in the Istmo-Colombian Area (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A group of translucent green stones have recently been found in the archaeological site of El Caño, Panama. It is not the first time that these types of stones have been found in the region. Stones with similar characteristics were found at Sitio Conte in the 1930s. The analyses carried out with pXRF in combination with spectroscopic techniques (FTIR,...
Looking through the Glass: How Large-Scale XRF Obsidian Sourcing Has Expanded Our View of Late Pre-Hispanic Regional Networks in the U.S. Southwest (2019)
This is an abstract from the "2019 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of M. Steven Shackley" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the past three decades, the Geoarchaeological XRF Lab, founded and directed by Steve Shackley, has defined and established unique chemical fingerprints for nearly all of the obsidian sources used by Native Americans in the pre-Hispanic U.S. Southwest. Sources and sub-source localities can be reliably identified...
Metal and vitreous production technologies at the Early Bronze Age Resuloğlu (Central Anatolia, Turkey) (2018)
Modern day Çorum is the homeland of the Hatti people, the culture that later formed the Hittite Empire. Resuloğlu, dated to the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2500–2100 BC), is one of the few Hatti sites being systematically excavated. The site, located on a hilltop near the Delice River, consists of a cemetery area and settlement that spreads over two opposing–once connected–ridges with numerous extraordinary metal and vitreous artifacts. The settlement exemplifies well the self-sustaining pre-Hittite...
Metal, Pigment, and Prestige: An Analysis of the Form, Decoration, Status, and Use of Inca Stone Vessels (2018)
The ethnohistoric and archaeological records provide ample evidence of the ideological significance of metals and pigments in the pre-Columbian Andean world. This study explores the use of these materials in the complex decorative techniques utilized by the Inca when finishing stone vessels.This research integrates data generated from ethnohistoric sources, portable X-Ray Fluorescent (pXRF) tests, and reconstructive experimentation in order to provide a better understanding of how metals and...
Micro-residues: Developing a Geochemical Baseline for Archaeological Analysis at Temyiq Tuyuryaq (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Temyiq Tuyuryaq: Collaborative Archaeology the Yup’iit Way" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Geochemical analysis of anthropomorphic sediments in a household context have contributed to our understanding of ‘home-making’ including spatial organization and use of residential space (e.g. Frink and Goodale). Geochemical signatures can identify micro-residues such as calcium and phosphorous, suggesting activities that have...
Mission Period Glass Beads from the Northern Channel Islands of California (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Glass beads were an important trade item and symbol of culture contact for Native Americans in coastal California and the Channel Islands where people had manufactured shell and stone beads for some 10,000 years. Glass bead assemblages from the northern Channel Islands, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and San Miguel, all entered the collections of the Smithsonian’s...
Modelling the Connectivity of Socioeconomic Networks of Copper Production in Ancient Northern Oman (2018)
With over 5000 years of production history, Oman was a major ancient source of copper, participating in a trade network that supplied a large part of the ancient world, the extent of which has yet to be fully mapped. As part of the Archaeological Water Histories of Oman (ArWHO) Project, we have been working since 2012 in the Ad-Dhahirah Governorate of Oman to clarify the structure of ancient copper production networks. Methodologically, our investigations employ satellite imagery analysis to map...