Sourcing Galena from a Multicomponent Site in Maryland using Lead Isotope Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Toolstone and Mineral Geography Across Time and Space" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Galena has been recovered from pre-contact archaeological sites throughout the Eastern Woodlands, principally in mortuary contexts. The presence of galena in these contexts, the general lack of cultural modification to galena specimens recovered from archaeological sites, and the often-long distances between galena deposits and primary geologic sources has led to it categorization as ceremonial and/or exotic. Depending on the region, galena is found at sites ranging in age from the Middle Archaic to the Early Historic period. In Maryland, until recently, only one galena specimen has been recovered from an archaeological context. In 1999, shovel tests in a multicomponent Middle-Late Archaic and Late Woodland site in Frederick County, Maryland recovered a single cube of galena. It is unclear which occupation the galena is associated with. In the summer of 2024, surface collection at a newly documented Late Archaic and Late Woodland site in Baltimore County recovered two galena specimens. This project uses lead isotope analysis to source these two galena specimens to better understand their context within the site and the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Toolstone and Mineral Geography Across Time and Space   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52503