Hopewellian Meteoric Iron Use: An Experimental Approach for Exploring Production and Function

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.

Hopewell artisans were innovative and highly skilled craftspeople, demonstrating proficiency with a wide variety of exotic materials, including meteoric iron. Here we explore the material properties of this unique raw material in terms of production and possible function. In this study, objects made from meteoric iron from Ohio Hopewell contexts are examined for evidence of manufacturing techniques and for wear patterns that may signal their use in specific ritual and/or functional contexts. Samples of iron similar in composition to the meteoric iron used by Ohio Hopewell are used to replicate archaeological specimens via cold working. Replicas are subjected to a variety of functional and repetitive tasks (rubbing, burning, breaking, prying, piercing) to assess how such treatments affect the iron objects, and which marks result from specific actions. The replicas are then compared to archaeological samples to assess similarity in patterning. Experimental approaches such as these can better elucidate past human behavior regarding the use and production of novel raw materials such as the Hopewellian use of meteoric iron.

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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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36668.0