New Insights into Poverty Point Exchange through Lead Isotopic Analysis of Galena

Summary

This is an abstract from the "*SE Not Your Father’s Poverty Point: Rewriting Old Narratives through New Research" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The mineral galena is well established as a raw material used by prehistoric peoples of eastern North America from the Late Archaic through Mississippian periods. In the lower Mississippi River Valley, numerous specimens have been recovered at sites occupied by groups associated with the Poverty Point culture. The current study involves isotopic analysis of galena specimens from two of those sites, Poverty Point and Claiborne. These results demonstrate a strong connection between the galena specimens and source areas in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. There is no evidence of connections to Upper Mississippi Valley source areas as reported in some previous studies. Because the specimens were recovered from excavated contexts, some of which have associated radiocarbon dates, these findings are placed within a more secure spatial and temporal framework than has been typical of previous studies into the exploitation of galena by Poverty Point culture groups.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• *SE Not Your Father’s Poverty Point: Rewriting Old Narratives through New Research

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38291.0