From Materials to Materiality: Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts Using Non-destructive and Micro/Nano-sampling Scientific Methods

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "From Materials to Materiality: Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts Using Non-destructive and Micro/Nano-sampling Scientific Methods," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

An instrumental revolution has taken place in the last decade with the miniaturization of scientific instruments capable of assessing elemental and molecular compositions of ancient artifacts. Portable spectroscopy and spectrometry and micro/nano-sampling have made possible the study of materials in situ and in museum contexts. This is providing detailed information on ancient groups that produced these objects, and we are in a moment in which we are able to offer unique insights into their cultural meanings. The goal of this symposium is to present case studies of applied scientific methods to analyze archaeological, historical, and aesthetic artifacts and attempt to transcend their mere description to propose deeper interpretations exploring meanings and cultural values embodied in them by their makers.

Other Keywords
Archaeometry & Materials Analysis • Material Culture and Technology • Craft Production • Materiality • Archaeometry & Materials Analysis: XRF/pXRF • contact period • Conservation and Curation • Historic • Highland Mesoamerica: Classic • Highland Mesoamerica: Postclassic

Geographic Keywords
United Mexican States (Country) • North America (Continent) • Colima (State / Territory) • Michoacan (State / Territory) • Jalisco (State / Territory) • Nayarit (State / Territory) • Aguascalientes (State / Territory) • Guanajuato (State / Territory) • Belize (Country) • Hidalgo (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-15 of 15)

  • Documents (15)
Documents
  • Archaeometric Analysis of Mural Paintings at Pachacamac, Peru (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Peter Eeckhout. Kusi Colonna-Preti.

    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. From 2014 to 2018, we excavated Building B15, a small temple decorated with mural paintings at the archaeological site of Pachacamac. These are the first paintings discovered on the site since 1938. On the walls, as on...

  • Archaeometric Characterization of the Lapidary Objects from Teopancazco and Xalla, Teotihuacan (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Reyna Solis. Emiliano Melgar.

    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. One of the main goals of the archaeological researches in Teotihuacan is the analysis and classification of the material culture in order to distinguish local and foreign goods among this multiethnic settlement. In this...

  • The Authentication of the Codex Maya of Mexico, Previously Known as the Grolier, through Scientific Analysis (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Gerardo Gutiérrez. James Millette. Mariana Sanders. Mary E. Pye.

    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. After 45 years of polemic about the Codex Grolier, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia of Mexico finally decided to undertake major scientific studies on this document to evaluate its authenticity. During...

  • Characterization Using Raman Spectroscopy of Amazonite and Turquoise of Tomb II, Tingambato, Michoacán, México (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alejandro Valdes Herrera. José Luis Punzo Díaz.

    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. The archaeological site of Tingambato is located in the state of Michoacán, in a transitional zone between the highlands and the lowlands of the Balsas River. This geographical location allowed a long distance interchange...

  • Chemical Indices as a Key to Context: The Use of pXRF to Reassemble Maya Mural Fragments from San Bartolo, Guatemala (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Heather Hurst.

    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. The dissemination of wall paintings from the Late Preclassic period Maya site of San Bartolo, Guatemala, have focused on the in situ north and west walls of the buried chamber named Sub-1A. In contrast to their excellent...

  • Experimental Investigation of Primary Copper Smelting in Central Michoacan (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Blanca Maldonado. Patricia Castro. Peter Tropper.

    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. Copper was the main metal produced and worked in Mesoamerica, but data for pre-modern primary production and processing remain elusive. Systematic research at Itziparátzico, a Late Postclassic location in Central...

  • The Field Museum’s Colonial Period Polychrome Tiana: A Conservation Study of Materials and Techniques (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Stephanie Hornbeck. Emily Kaplan.

    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. The Field Museum’s collection holds the only known Colonial era tiana, or carved wooden stool, from Peru. This important object was among the inaugural collections at the Museum, entering the collection at its founding in...

  • Influence and Exchange: A Technical Study of Colonial Period Ivories from the Philippines (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Julie Fuqua. Glenn Gates.

    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...

  • Judging a Vessel by Its Surface: Investigating Production Process in Corinthian Ceramics through Use of Multiple Non-invasive Instruments (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mariana Sanders. Erik Jurado. Gerardo Gutierrez.

    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),...

  • Local Color: The Visual Analysis of a South American Colonial Lacquered Gourd from the Collection of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Monica Katz.

    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. The Hispanic Society has a small but very fine collection of colonial Spanish American lacquered objects, which are decorated with one of the more widely known indigenous lacquer techniques, barniz de Pasto. The Hispanic...

  • Microscopic and Spectrometric Techniques Applied to Identify Luxury Materials in a Fifteenth-Century Aztec Shield (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Laura Filloy. María Olvido Moreno Guzmán. José Luis Ruvalcaba Sil. Edgar Casanova. Cynthya Arellano.

    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. In the collections of the world, only six aztec feathered objects exist: three shields and a headdress in Europe, and two shields in Mexico. Mexico’s National Museum of History conserves one shield, made of mammal hide,...

  • Pigment Composition and Color Structure and Usage in the Lienzos De Chiepetlan, Guerrero, Mexico: A Non-destructive Analysis (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Erik Jurado. Mariana Lujan Sanders. Gerardo Gutiérrez. Israel Hinojosa Baliño.

    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. The community of Chiepetlan, Guerrero possesses six colonial lienzos. One manufactured during the 16th century, and four manufactured during the 18th century and used as legal documents in colonial land disputes. The...

  • The Technical Study of Two 16th Century Mexican Pictographic Documents in the NMAI Collection (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily Kaplan Emily Kaplan. Leah Bright.

    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. Two mid-16th century Mexican pictographic documents in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian, a codex on amate paper from the Valley of Mexico and a lienzo on a large cotton textile from Puebla, have...

  • Tools Fit for a Queen: Interdisciplinary Study of a Set of Ancient Maya Weaving Implements (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Megan O'Neil. Nawa Sugiyama. Gilberto Pérez Roldán. Laura Maccarelli. Yosi Pozeilov.

    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 reviews our interdisciplinary study examining a set of carved deer bones comprising what appears to be a weaving or sewing kit for an ancient Maya royal woman bearing the Sa’ emblem glyph associated with...

  • Viscacha or Rabbit, Peru or Mexico: Fiber Identification and Cultural Clarification in the Investigation of a 16th C. Colonial Latin American Textile (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Elena Phipps. Lucy Commoner. Nobuko Shibayama.

    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. Long distance trade of precious materials such as spondylus shell or turquoise took place in the Precolumbian world. However, at the same time, the associations between particularly local materials and their long-term...