Twenty Years of Archaeological Science at the Field Museum’s Elemental Analysis Facility

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Twenty Years of Archaeological Science at the Field Museum’s Elemental Analysis Facility" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Since 2004, the Elemental Analysis Facility at the Field Museum has conducted advanced research projects in archaeological chemistry to study research on trade and exchange, examine craft production, and assess the nature of archaeological materials. Housed in one of the world’s great natural history museums, the labs promote research on museum collections but also on objects from collaborating institutions and researchers. Applications from techniques including laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry and portable X-ray fluorescence have been instrumental in this work. Collaborative projects have ranged from explorations of glass bead production and exchange to sourcing earthenware ceramics and the development of portable laser ablation systems. Dozens of publications and large databases have been built, the latter of which provide for large-scale comparative analysis of exchange systems on continental scales. The posters presented in this session fulfill the spirit of the EAF showcasing the results of some of its recent projects.