Archaeometry & Materials Analysis (Other Keyword)
276-300 (357 Records)
From 1850 to 1860, the Blue Ridge Mountains were home to roughly 1,900 Irish laborers as they worked on the construction of the Virginia Central Railroad. Upon its completion, the railroad stretched from Norfolk, Virginia, to the Ohio River. Along the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Irish immigrants constructed several cuts and tunnels, including the Blue Ridge Tunnel. At its completion, the tunnel measured 4,263ft long and bridged two Virginia counties. This project proved to be an especially...
Shell Fishhooks on C. chorus Mussel Shell (7500 to 4500 Years BP) from the Atacama Desert Coast (Chile) (2018)
Fishing was a crucial aspect in the lifeway of ancient coastal societies. Along the Pacific Coast, the appearance of shell fishhooks has been interpreted as part of different contexts of growing population, economic specialization, and social complexity, among others. Along the coast of the Atacama Desert (18° to 26° Lat. South), fishhooks on Choromytilus chorus shells (mussel) appear in archaeological sites located along 1.6 thousand kilometers of coast with dates around 7500 years BP. Around...
Shimmering Gold and Feathers: Strategies for Making Feathered Objects with Metal Applications (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Polychromy, Multimediality, and Visual Complexity in Mesoamerican Art" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Mexica employed feathers to make lightweight objects utilized by elites and gods in various secular, religious, political, and military contexts. The use of feathers is represented in murals, codices, ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, and even some of these objects that have managed to survive more than five...
A Short Historiography of David Killick (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Science and African Archaeology: Appreciating the Impact of David Killick" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. David Killick came to archaeology perhaps earlier in life and almost surely in a more unconventional way than did most of us: at a prestigious, all-boys boarding school in what was then colonial Rhodesia. Student trips to the nearby Matobo Hills, an extraordinary landscape of balancing granite...
Silcrete Heat Treatment Technology during the MIS 5/4 Transition at Pinnacle Point 5-6 and Vleesbaai, South Africa (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The heat treatment of silcrete is an important technological strategy during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in South Africa. Heat-treating silcrete improves its quality for tool making and use. Although it is found as early as ~162,000 years ago (ka) at Pinnacle Point 13B, heat-treated silcrete does not become common in South African MSA assemblages until...
Skiles Shelter (41VV165): A Closer Look at a Long-Term Earth Oven Facility (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Skiles Shelter (41VV165) is located at the mouth of Eagle Nest Canyon, roughly 250 meters northwest from the Rio Grande in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of southwest Texas. Skiles Shelter is characterized by a fading panel of Pecos River Style rock art, numerous bedrock milling features, and a massive burned rock midden (BRM) accumulation of fire cracked rock...
Soil Differences and Their Implications for Plaza Function and Site Organization at Maax Na, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Ancient Maya Landscapes in Northwestern Belize, Part I" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2016 the Maax Na Archaeology Project systematically tested the soils of two major plazas at Maax Na, a large prehispanic site located in the Three Rivers Region of Belize. Tests in the West Plaza sought to determine whether phosphorus levels there supported its identification as a marketplace during the Late Classic (C.E....
Source Analysis of Obsidian from the Late Olmec Site of Los Soldados (2018)
Recent compositional analyses of obsidian from Formative Period Mesoamerican sites have been used to trace obsidian to a number of Highland Mexican and Guatemalan sources, and documented shifts in sources through time. In this presentation, we report the results of a study that analyzed 401 obsidian samples excavated from the Middle/Late Formative period habitation site of Los Soldados, located 11 km from the Olmec capital of La Venta. Using three high precision techniques (LA-ICP-MS, XRF, and...
The Southern Neighborhood Center at the Tlajinga District, Teotihuacan (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Life in Teotihuacan's urban neighborhoods revolved around the social infrastructure of local public spaces featuring temples, plazas, and other buildings with civic functions. Recent investigations in the Tlajinga district demonstrate that even on Teotihuacan's outer periphery these spaces could be quite elaborate, with structures elevated on talud-tablero...
Spatial and Temporal Diversity in Stable Isotope Studies of Archaeological Material (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Defining and Measuring Diversity in Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While identifying and defining diversity in material culture studies, bioarchaeological assemblages, and site distribution has long been de rigeur, the advent and development of stable isotope analysis in archaeology since the publication of Leonard & Jones' seminal 1989 volume provides yet another layer of complexity in archaeological...
Spatial Pattern of δ18O Water Isotope in the Argentinean Central West: Their Potential to Model Human Mobility at Archaeological Scale (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents the δ18O isotopes results based on a new southern Mendoza water sampling. Using GIS the δ18O isotope information from water sources is modeled in regional isoscapes. With this baseline we discuss human mobility, analyzing three archaeological cases. In total 92 water source samples from rivers, creeks, springs, snow, lagoons, and water...
Spondylus Shells in Pre-Columbian Copan: Their Religious and Economic Significance (2018)
This work offers a brief discussion on the importance of Spondylus princeps and Spondylus calcifer in the ceremonial, and economic life of ancient Copan. Archaeological contexts at the site indicate that the uses of Spondylus, either as non-worked valves, or finished artifacts was restricted to a small high-status sphere of Copan society. Additionally, contextual data indicate that the Spondylus was used in a least three ritual activities: as offering in burials; caches; and canceling of...
Stable Isotope Analysis (δ13C/δ15N) of Archaeological Feathers from Corral Redondo, Arequipa, Peru (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Feathercrafts were vital to prestige economies of the ancient Americas. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms and sources of feathered textile production can illuminate the nature of the trade networks that supported elite socioeconomic pursuits. In the 1940s, local farmers discovered an unprecedented cache of feathered textile panels wrapped in...
Stable Isotope Analysis of Dental Serial Sections Suggests Delayed Weaning among Archaic Foragers of the Andean Altiplano (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Previous research identifies delayed weaning as a behavioral adaptation to life at high altitude in the Andean and Tibetan highlands. This research examines the stable isotope chemistry of dental serial sections in Archaic period forager populations of the high Andes in the Lake Titicaca Basin to estimate weaning ages and the potential onset of delayed...
Stable Isotope Analysis of Humans, Pine Nuts, and Acorns from the Central Sierra Nevada, CA (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In stable isotope analysis of human remains, δ13C enrichment is often interpreted as a marine or C4 contribution to the diet. There are instances when neither of these interpretations is supported by the archaeological evidence, such as in the central Sierra Nevada of California. Archaeological evidence for this region suggests that pine nuts and acorns...
Stable Isotope Analysis of the Diet of Romans and Langobards in the Veneto from Late Antiquity to the Medieval Period (2018)
Limited isotopic research has been conducted in the Veneto, Italy during the transitional period after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and arrival of the Germanic Langobards in the sixth century AD. Questions remain of the local implications of diet during this period of instability, when invasions and population decline occurred. Thus, this research compares Roman and Langobard populations from late antiquity to the medieval period using stable isotope analysis on bone collagen, apatite,...
Stable Isotope Analysis of the Early Agriculture Period at La Playa (SON:F:10:3), Sonora, Mexico (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stable isotopic analyses of carbon and nitrogen in bone can provide insight into the consumption of plants and animals. Bone collagen differentially tracks the consumption of proteins, and bone apatite reflects individual’s diet through the intake of lipids, protein, and carbohydrates. Analyses of 29 individuals from the Early Agricultural period (EAP)...
Stable Isotope Analysis of the San Pedro and Cienega Phases at the La Playa Site (SON: F: 10: 3), Sonora, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Previous stable isotopic studies of bone from 12 dated individuals from the site of La Playa in Northern Sonora suggest a diet dominated by C4 and CAM resources. For collagen δ13C, an average value of -8.5‰ (n=5) was recorded in the San Pedro phase (1200 BC to 800 BC) which shifted to an average value of -10.0‰ (n=7) in the Cienega phase (800 BC to AD 150)....
Star Bridge: A Late Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The late pre-Columbian period in the central Illinois River valley (CIRV) is demarcated by the development of large, oftentimes fortified Mississippian towns, farming hamlets, extensive trade networks, and shifting political alliances between AD 1050 and 1400. The fission and fusion of local polities ceased with abrupt abandonment of the CIRV by AD 1450 as...
State Control of Production and Distribution of Inka-Style Pottery in the Southern Border of Tawantinsuyu (Inka State) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Andean and Amazonian Ceramics: Advances in Technological Studies" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study aims to identify the nature and degree of state control over the production and distribution of Inka-style ceramics in Aconcagua Valley and Maipo-Mapocho basin (Central Chile) during the Late Period (AD 1400–1536) and what role the Diaguita may have played in this process. The analysis focuses mainly on aríbalos...
The Stimuli of Technological Inventions (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Essential Contributions from African to Global Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Technology transfer is a popular concept in the studies of pyro-technologies globally. This concept has been used uncritically in discourses on the origins and development of sophisticated technologies in sub-Saharan Africa. Instead of continuous patronage of this inherently derogatory concept in sub-Saharan African archaeology,...
Stone Armor 2,200 Years Ago: Large-Scale Specialized Workshop in Early China (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stone armor was unearthed in Pit K9801 of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in 1998. In 2001, a large number of stone armor semi-finished products and processing tools were again discovered in a well of Qin Dynasty in Xinfeng Town on the south bank of the Wei River, clarifying for the first time where stone armor was produced. In 2019, stone armor was...
A Story Written in Sherds: Ceramic Use Patterns at Río Amarillo Reveal Strategies of Survival in the Terminal Classic to Postclassic Copan Valley, Honduras (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The site of Río Amarillo, on the far eastern side of the Copan Valley, was integrated into the economy of the Copan polity during the Classic period. However, the groups surrounding the core of Río Amarillo long outlasted both Copan’s center and the secondary center of Río Amarillo. This paper will explore the ceramic evidence from the hinterlands to...
A Study of Flexed Burials in the Central Lake Region of Yunnan: from Neolithic to Bronze Age (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Research on Early Chinese Borderland Cultures and Archaeological Materials" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The flexed burial is a distinct burial style that has prevailed in various regions of China since ancient time. Scholarly interest in flexed burials in the Central Lake region (Lake Dian and adjacent lands) of Yunnan began after discovery of a grave in 1955 during the excavation of the ancient necropolis...
The Study of Isotopic Baseline in the Gan-Qing Region, Northwestern China (2018)
We analyzed the baseline for dietary study through stable isotopes in the Gan-Qing (Gansu and Qinghai provinces) region in prehistory. Total 283 animal samples from 4 sites were collected and analyzed. We found that herbivorous δ15N values did not change much in the Hehuang region between 3200 BCE and 2000 BCE, indicating that the range of nitrogen isotopic baseline was relatively stable in different time. The range of herbivorous δ15N values from the Hehuang region around the 2000 BCE is from...