Determining Battle Lines: a pXRF study of lead shot from the Battle of Palo Alto.

Summary

In 2012-2013, the Southeast Archeological Center undertook a project to analyze the chemical composition of the lead shot recovered from their recent archaeological surveys at Palo Alto National Historical Park, site of the first battle of the U.S.-Mexican War. Using a portable x-ray fluorescence machine, 771 lead shot samples were analyzed in order to ascertain whether there was a difference in the chemical makeup between the lead shot that had been previously identified, using traditional techniques such as measured caliber size, as Mexican and American in origin. This paper will outline the findings of that study, their impact on the interpretation of the Battle of Palo Alto, and the benefits of pXRF and similar technologies as tools in battlefield research.

Cite this Record

Determining Battle Lines: a pXRF study of lead shot from the Battle of Palo Alto.. michael seibert, John Cornelison, Rolando Garza, Sara Kovalaskas, Bruce Kaiser. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434466)

Keywords

Temporal Keywords
1846

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 185