Testing the Geographical Sourcing of Rivercane Using Pb/Sr Isotopes and Trace Elements in Arkansas and Oklahoma

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The use of rivercane in ancient basketry and other ancient materials presents an opportunity to understand how culturally important objects were used and moved across the landscape. Examples of ritual and subsistence related basketry have been found at Spiro and in the Ozark Mountains, some of which are expected to come from other locations. Modern plant and soil samples were collected to test the application of Pb and Sr isotopes and trace element analysis for evaluating geographic origins of ancient rivercane in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Several sites in Arkansas and Oklahoma were tested, including Spiro, Crenshaw, and Parkin. Results are compared to previously sampled ancient animal remains, human remains, and soil from the same sites to test the utility of these methods. While the results are limited, they suggest that Sr and trace elements may be fruitful if analyzed appropriately. As expected, Pb isotopes from modern plants may have been affected by anthropogenic Pb but show that enough Pb was present to obtain usable results. Several different modern and ancient datasets matched in different site locations, illustrating the usability of these methods for testing origins of ancient basketry.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37308.0