The Use of Iron Meteorites for Hopewell Beads

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Metal Tool Production and Use by Indigenous Hunter-Gatherers in North America" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Iron meteorites are among the most exotic raw materials used for Hopewell ceremonial objects. The sourcing of these meteorites via chemical comparison to known meteorites has implications for acquisition and exchange. Some large meteorites (e.g., Brenham, KS; 4 tons in hundreds of masses) may have been recovered by expeditions, whereas iron from smaller showers (Anoka, MN; two known masses of several kg) likely moved through interaction between Hopewell centers. Complementary structural studies, primarily through comparative metallography of the source meteorites and artifacts, reveal manufacturing methods. Iron meteorite beads were manufactured by repeated cycles of cold working and annealing to sheet form followed by rolling into beads. Replication experiments using lithics produced metallographic textures, notably subgrain sizes in kamacite, similar to Hopewell beads. Experiments using modern steel tools produced substantially larger subgrains, reflecting overly efficient deformation. Replication experiments in, e.g., copper, using modern tools may have similar issues. How individual pieces for beads were separated from a larger mass remains uncertain. Replication experiments in copper suggest scribing, bending, and fatigue cracking, but used modern tools. Experiments producing multiple beads from a single mass using period techniques and tools are underway.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Metal Tool Production and Use by Indigenous Hunter-Gatherers in North America   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36352.0