Browsing by Subject "Archaeometry"
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Item Elemental and Technological Analyses of Basalt Adze Manufacture on Tutuila, Amerika Samoa: Economic Intensification and Specialization During the Monument Building Period(2013-06-05) Johnson, Phillip RThis dissertation research presents the elemental and technological analyses of basalt adze quarries from the Samoan Island of Tutuila. Both Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) were utilized in the chemical characterization of basalt samples and artifacts. Elemental concentration data derived from both INAA and EDXRF successfully differentiated between multiple Tutuilan basalt adze quarries, and these data were utilized to determine the most efficacious elemental analysis technique for Tutuilan basalt adze provenance study. Elemental concentration data from the Lau?agae quarry were utilized with technological attribute analysis of artifacts recovered from that archaeological site to investigate the potential for economic specialization in the manufacture of basalt adzes. Analysis of both the technological attribute data and the elemental concentration data provided evidence for potential specialization at the Lau?agae quarry. When these data were compared to similar data from other Polynesian archaeological sites it further supported the potential for specialized production at Lau?agae. Ultimately, it was determined that multiple skilled producers created various types of basalt adzes at Lau?agae with the intent to export and exchange their products.Item Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) characterization of pre-contact basalt quarries on the American Samoan Island of Tutuila(Texas A&M University, 2007-04-25) Johnson, Phillip Ray, IIThis thesis presents a material-centered characterization of 120 geologic samples from four fine-grained basalt quarries on the Samoan Island of Tutuila. Previous unsuccessful attempts at definitive Tutuilan quarry differentiation have utilized x-ray fluorescence (XRF). In this study, clear differentiation of each analyzed quarry was achieved using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Biplots of canonical discriminant function scores for the INAA data illustrate clear separation based on the variation in chemical composition between each quarry. The samples analyzed not only define quarry separation, but also provide the "core group" for a preliminary baseline necessary for future artifact-centered provenance studies. Inclusion of these "core group" samples in the baseline was confirmed by stepwise discriminant analysis. These findings suggest the ability to determine quarry of origin on the island of Tutuila, which can elucidate the importance of individual Tutuilan quarries in the export and exchange of fine-grained basalts.