An XRF Analysis of Redware Artifacts from Hanna's Town, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Summary

Hanna’s Town in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania played a pivotal role in the history of the state prior to and during the American Revolution. Archaeological excavations at Hanna’s Town have yielded a vast assemblage of domestic artifacts including various types of historic ceramics, the majority of which are redware. An x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) analysis of redware artifacts from Hanna’s Town provides more detailed information on the character of raw ceramic materials and the economic significance of redware within the entire site assemblage. Redware sherds from Hanna’s Town are subjected to XRF analysis and the results compared to XRF results from a collection of redware known to be manufactured locally in Westmoreland County. Trends within the Hanna’s Town redware assemblage and between the two collections may indicate a common location of manufacture and/or raw material source. Specific locations of redware manufacture or source material are identified to provide insight into the spatial distribution of goods in and around eighteenth century Hanna’s Town. Additionally, the feasibility and applicability of XRF in historic ceramic analyses is examined through this study.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage