The Home Network: X-ray Florescence and Geochemical Data of Post-Medieval Ceramics in Ulster

Summary

The area known as Ulster is one region where complex colonial and ethnic relationships are evident in the past, as well as in the present. This study looks specifically at the trade of ceramics in Post-Medieval Ulster, to see if coarse earthenware ceramics are being imported from elsewhere along with English refined earthenwares or if they are being produced locally in Ireland. Through the use of portable X-ray florescence (pXRF), the multi-elemental makeup of 1342 sherd will be examine to determine their point of origin by comparing it to the Tellus geochemical data collected by the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. These sherds represent twenty-two farmsteads across Counties Armagh and Tyrone, and a range of ethnic groups and classes.

This poster reports on the pXRF data analyzed for The Home Network project and its relationship to the Tellus open source geochemical data set. The statistical methods used to compare the two data sets for similarities will be presented, and the results of this comparison, which would suggest the point of origin for the ceramics in question, will be interpreted. The efficacy of pXRF and the statistical methods will be addressed with an eye to replicating this study in other regions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage