Current Approaches to the Study of Late Prehistoric North American Copper Materials: Contributions from the Hoxie Farm Site, Cook County, Illinois

Summary

In North America, contemporary archaeometallurgical approaches to the interpretation of native and copper-base metals go far beyond simply recording the artifacts to probing longstanding and emerging questions related to the multiple and complex role(s) metal working and metals play in the social lives of ancient peoples. Research on the appropriate application of scientific or laboratory-based methodologies whose results augment descriptions and provide robustness to inferences is developing rapidly. This paper evaluates and interprets the results of an analysis of a 273 copper-base metal data set from three late prehistoric components (Late Fisher, Huber, and generic Upper Mississippian) at the Hoxie Farm site, southwest Cook County, Illinois. The analysis is structured within a "technological systems" framework. Formal, technological, and laboratory-derived observations (metallography, PXRF) are employed to characterize the working techniques and the metals in the industries. Distributional, contextual, and comparative information are then drawn into a discussion that places the utilitarian, ornamental, and symbolic forms found in the industries within historical, technological, and social use contexts of Upper Mississippian peoples in the mid-continent. Middle Mississippian and Early Historic metal use are also important points of comparison.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Developing Approaches in the Study of Prehistoric Copper in North American Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16247