Archaelogical Chemistry: Analytical Techniques and Archaeological Interpretation

581 Pages·2007·23.83 MB·English

by  Michael D. Glascock

Archaeological Chemistry

In Archaeological Chemistry; Glascock, M., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007.
In Archaeological Chemistry; Glascock, M., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007.
ACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES 968
Archaeological Chemistry
Analytical Techniques and
Archaeological Interpretation
Michael D. Glascock, Editor
University of Missouri
Robert J. Speakman, Editor
Smithsonian Institution
Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff, Editor
University of Missouri-Columbia

Sponsored by the
ACS Divisions of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology
and the History of Chemistry
American Chemical Society, Washington, DC
In Archaeological Chemistry; Glascock, M., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Archaeological chemistry : analytical techniques and archaeological interpretation /
Michael D. Glascock, editor , Robert J. Speakman, editor, Rachel S. Popelka
-Filcoff, editor.
p. cm.—(ACS symposium series ;9 68)
"Sponsored by the ACS Divisions of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology and the
History of Chemistry."
"The symposium upon which this book is based was held at the 231st National Meeting
of the American Chemical Society, March 26-27, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia".—Pref.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
978-0-8412-7413-6 (alk. paper)
1. Archaeological chemistry—Congresses. 2. Archaeology—Methodology—
Congresses. III. Antiqities—Analysis—Congresses.
I. Glascock, Michael D. II. Speakman, Robert J., 1970- III. Popelka-Filcoff, Rachel S.,
1977- IV. American Chemical Society. Meeting (231st : 2006 : Atlanta, Ga.)
CC79.C5A726 2007
930.1-dC22
2007060680
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Copyright © 2007 American Chemical Society
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In Archaeological Chemistry; Glascock, M., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007.
Foreword
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In Archaeological Chemistry; Glascock, M., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007.
Table of Contents
Preface
Michael D. Glascock, Robert J. Speakman, and Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff xi

1 Expanding the Range of Electron Spin Resonance Dating
Anne R. Skinner, Bonnie A. B. Blackwell, Maysun M. Hasan, and Joel I. B. Blickstein 1-14

2 Toward the Classification of Colorants in Archaeological Textiles of Eastern North America
Christel M. Baldia and Kathryn A. Jakes 15-43

3 Infrared Examination of Fiber and Particulate Residues from Archaeological Textiles
Kathryn A. Jakes, Christel M. Baldia, and Amanda J. Thompson 44-77

4 Extraction and Analysis of DNA from Archaeological Specimens
Brian M. Kemp, Cara Monroe, and David Glenn Smith 78-98

5 Using Archaeological Chemistry to Investigate the Geographic Origins of Trophy
Heads in the Central Andes: Strontium Isotope Analysis at the Wari Site of Conchopata
Kelly J. Knudson and Tiffiny A. Tung 99-113

6 Interpreting Stable Isotopic Analyses: Case Studies on Sardinian Prehistory
Luca Lai, Robert H. Tykot, Jessica F. Beckett, Rosalba Floris, Ornella Fonzo, Elena Usai,
Maria Rosaria Manunza, Ethan Goddard, and David Hollander 114-136

7 Bitumen in Neolithic Iran: Biomolecular and Isotopic Evidence
Michael W. Gregg, Rhea Brettell, and Benjamin Stern 137-151

8 Surface Analysis of a Black Deposit from Little Lost River Cave, Idaho
Reshmi Perumplavil and Ruth Ann Armitage 152-166

9 Shell Bead Sourcing: A Comparison of Two Techniques on Olivella biplicata Shells and
Beads from Western North America
Jelmer W. Eerkens, Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, Howard J. Spero, Ryoji Shiraki, and Gregory S.
Herbert 167-193

10 Archaeological Soils and Sediments: Application of Microfocus Synchrotron X-ray
Scattering, Diffraction, and Fluorescence Analyses in Thin-Section
W. Paul Adderley, Ian A. Simpson, Raymond Barrett, and Timothy J. Wess 194-209

11 Quantitative Modeling of Soil Chemical Data from Inductively Coupled Plasma—
Optical Emission Spectroscopy Reveals Evidence for Cooking and Eating in Ancient
Mesoamerican Plazas
E. Christian Wells, Claire Novotny, and James R. Hawken 210-230
12 Chemical Composition of Song Dynasty, Chinese, Copper-Based Coins via Energy
Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence
Jessica Misner, Jeffe Boats, and Mark A. Benvenuto 231-245

13 Elemental Compositions of Herodian Prutah, Copper Coins—of the Biblical "Widow's
Mites" Series—via Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence
Meghann Mouyianis, Jeffe Boats, and Mark A. Benvenuto 246-257

14 Chemical Composition of the Isfiya and Qumran Coin Hoards
Michael Notis, Aaron Shugar, Danny Herman, and Donald T. Ariel 258-274

15 Selected Applications of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma—Mass
Spectrometry to Archaeological Research
Robert J. Speakman, Michael D. Glascock, Robert H. Tykot, Christophe Descantes, Jennifer J.
Thatcher, Craig E. Skinner, and Kyra M. Lienhop 275-296

16 Evaluating the Precision Requirements for Isotope Ratio Determination of
Archaeological Materials Using Laser Ablation—Time-of-Flight—Inductively Coupled
Plasma—Mass Spectrometry: Increasing Ratio Precision
John V. Dudgeon, Hector Neff, Andrew "Flynn" Saint, and William Balsanek 297-310

17 Lead Isotope Analysis of Roman Carthage Curse Tablets
Sheldon Skaggs 311-335

18 Laser Ablation—Inductively Coupled Plasma—Mass Spectrometry Analysis of
Ancient Copper Alloy Artifacts
Laure Dussubieux 336-348

19 Laser Ablation—Inductively Coupled Plasma—Mass Spectrometry Analysis Applied
to the Characterization of Peruvian Wari Ceramics
Laure Dussubieux, Mark Golitko, Patrick Ryan Williams, and Robert J. Speakman 349-363

20 Characterization of Building Materials from the Brick Chapel at Historic St. Mary's City
Ruth Ann Armitage, Leah Minc, Silas Hurry, and Melissa Doolin 364-375

21 Characterization of 15th-16th Century Majolica Pottery Found on the Canary Islands
Javier Garcia Iñañez, Jaume Buxeda i Garrigós, Robert J. Speakman, Michael D. Glascock,
and Elena Sosa Suárez 376-398

22 Intraregional Provenancing of Philistine Pottery from Israel
David Ben-Shlomo 399-421

23 The Technology of Mesopotamian Ceramic Glazes
David V. Hill, Robert J. Speakman, Michael D. Glascock, and Hector Neff 422-446
24 Analysis of Historic Latter-day Saint Pottery Glazes by Laser Ablation—Inductively
Coupled Plasma—Mass Spectrometry
Nicole C. Little, Timothy J. Scarlett, Robert J. Speakman, Michael D. Glascock, and
Christopher W. Merritt 447-459

25 Fingerprinting Specular Hematite from Mines in Botswana, Southern Africa
Adam V. Kiehn, George A. Brook, Michael D. Glascock, Jonathan Z. Dake, Lawrence H.
Robbins, Alec C. Campbell, and Michael L. Murphy 460-479

26 Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Ochre Artifacts from Jiskairumoko, Peru
Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff, Nathan Craig, Michael D. Glascock, J. David Robertson, Mark
Aldenderfer, and Robert J. Speakman 480-505

27 Feasibility of Field-Portable XRF to Identify Obsidian Sources in Central Petén,
Guatemala
Leslie G. Cecil, Matthew D. Moriarty, Robert J. Speakman, and Michael D. Glascock 506-521

28 Sources of Archaeological Obsidian in Peru: Descriptions and Geochemistry
Michael D. Glascock, Robert J. Speakman, and Richard L. Burger 522-552

Indexes

Author Index 555-556

Subject Index 557-571
Preface
Archaeological chemistry is an interdisciplinary field of archae
ological research in which techniques and approaches from the chemical,
biological, physical, geological, and statistical sciences are employed to
extract more information from the material record of past human activity.
The range of research conducted is so broad that any attempt to describe
the field in a comprehensive summary is difficult. Major developments
within archaeological chemistry have relied on the development and
improvement of new techniques and procedures in conjunction with their
application to significant archaeological problems.
The symposium upon which this book is based was held at the 231st
National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, March 26-27,
2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The chapters included in this volume were
selected from the oral presentations at the symposium to demonstrate the
interdisciplinary nature of archaeological chemistry. The editors felt that
it was important for the papers in this volume to describe an archae
ological problem, to explain the analytical techniques and procedures
used to investigate the problem, and most importantly to present an
interpretation of their results for appreciation by archaeologists, chem
ists, and others.
Michael D. Glascock
Research Reactor Center
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
Robert J. Speakman
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560
Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
xi
In Archaeological Chemistry; Glascock, M., el al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007.