Not Something to Grind Your Teeth Over: Experimental Mounting of Enamel for Stable Isotopic and Microscopic Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

While preparing a set of zooarchaeological materials for microscopic and high-resolution stable isotopic studies, we found ourselves gritting our teeth to produce a set of mounts that met the standards for the intended lab analyses. Our target specimens were camelid teeth from the Terminal Pleistocene levels of Cuncaicha, a highland rockshelter in Southern Peru. These teeth are long and slender, making them difficult to fit into 2.5 centimeter epoxy rounds. As archaeological materials are rare and irreplaceable, it was essential to begin practicing with a set of modern samples to determine the best approaches. Here we present what we discovered which includes our framework of possible pre-destruction curation practices, such as imaging and modeling the specimens. We then explore various methods for preparing mounts to ultimately reveal minimalist techniques for maximum preservation. The intent of this poster is to help others forego nail-biting frustration by demonstrating how to bridge the gap between cutting-edge approaches and diligent conservation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25715