ISNAP Archaeometry Seminars - Abstracts 2008 - 2009

Topic: Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Figurines Manufacture and Decoration

Prof. Doug Bradley ( Snite Museum of Art ) / September 19, 2008

The Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican figurine collection in the Snite Museum of Art contains over 450 figurines, including several groups made by the same person or household workshop, judging from stylistic similarities. By testing the paints and slips, these relationships could be confirmed or denied, and used to establish a comparative database to test other figurines in this collection and at other institutions, as well as to collaborate with other archaeologists and scientists using PIXE in Mexico. ( PDF )

Topic: Early Bronze Age Pottery Production and Distribution

Prof. Meredith Chesson ( Department of Anthropology, Arts and Letters ) / October 3, 2008

The southern Levantine Early Bronze Age (EBA, c. 3600-2000 BCE) involved wide-scale population aggregation, invention of fortified towns, agricultural intensification, domestic and community-wide storage, increasing social complexity, and transformation of social and geographical landscapes. This project explores PIXE as a possible tool for making connections between EBA walled towns by focusing on pottery production and the use of specific slip and paint recipes across the region. Utilizing the large ceramic collection from the EB III fortified town of Tell el-Handaquq South, located on the eastern edge of the central Jordan Valley in Jordan, PIXE analysis of the slips and paints offers the potential for looking at local networks of pottery production and distribution amongst central Jordan Valley towns, and possibly with sites in the greater southern Levantine region of modern Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. ( PDF )

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Topic: Pottery Decoration and Production: Aztec Ruin

Prof. Donna Glowacki ( Department of Anthropology, Arts and Letters ) / October 10, 2008

Aztec Ruin, a National Monument in New Mexico, was a significant ceremonial and political center during the AD 1100s and into the 1200s; however, we know relatively little about the economic and social networks maintained by its inhabitants. My proposed research explores the utility of PIXE for analyzing the slip and paint used on Mesa Verde Black-on-white bowls found at Aztec to examine issues related to pottery production. ( PDF )

Topic: Southern Cascades Sources of Clay for Pottery, Figurines and Storage Pits

Prof. Joanne Mack ( Department of Anthropology, Arts and Letters ) / October 17, 2008

A sample of soil collected from an archaeological site near Ashland, Oregon in the Southern Cascades will be compared to ceramic sherds and the lining of storage pits from the same site. The PIXE analysis would address the hypothesis that the potters of the Sourthern Cascades used local clays for their ceramic pots and figurines, as well as for the lining of storage pits. ( PDF )

Topic: Identifying Locally-Made Pottery in the Caribbean

Prof. Mark Hauser ( Africana Studies, Arts and Letters ) / October 17, 2008

The estate Bois Cotlette, on Dominica, British West Indies, was established at least fifteen years before the formal colonization of the island by the British Empire by French émigrés from Martinique. Along with associated European materials, initial archaeological testing uncovered several locally or regionally made utilitarian earthenwares. This project will look at the utility of PIXIE in characterizing surface treatments of these ceramic materials. ( PDF )

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Topic: Early Nineteenth Century Transfer Prints: Technology, Dating, and Sourcing

Prof. Mark Schurr ( Department of Anthropology, Arts and Letters ) / November 7, 2008

During the early nineteenth century, decorated pottery from Straffordshire, England becomes one of the most common type of artifacts found at archaeological sites. Despite their importance for dating, economics, and other studies in historical archaeology, relatively little is known about the composition of these ceramics, or how they may have changed with time and which factory produced them. PIXE will be evaluated for the characterization of pigments used to decorate sherds found on Potawatomi Native American and Euroamerican sites of the early 1800s. ( PDF )

Topic: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry from the Iceman to Ocean Waters

Prof. Phillipe Collon ( Department of Physics ) / November 14, 2008

TBA

Topic: PIXE: Data Analysis

Prof. Larry Lamm ( Department of Physics ) / December 5 & 12, 2008

In PIXE: Data Analysis we will explore how the data from one of our typical PIXE runs is created, what information it contains, what it can and cannot tell us about our samples, and how we extract from the data the basic information of elemental abundances using the GUPIX sofware. Additionally, we will explore the interpretation of the data, touching on topics such as eigenvector and principle component analysis. ( Part 1: ppt. || pdf. )

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Topic: S.A.V.E. Monuments of Historical and Cultural Importance - the Taj Mahal Initiative

Prof. Krupali Uplekar ( Architecture ) / January 30 & February 6, 2009

S.A.V.E. stands for Scanning, Analyzing, Visualizing, and Educating – a process of intellectual investigation and dissemination of knowledge that allows future generations to benefit through the application of cutting-edge technology will be used to document the Taj Mahal Complex in India. Taj Mahal has been seriously damaged by the extreme climatic conditions and monsoon rains which have led to water infiltration and erosion of the white marble exterior. Pollution from heavy traffic and the close proximity of factories has moreover discolored the marble facade which requires constant cleaning. Unmanaged tourism can damage heritage sites, and high-profile sites often suffer the most. PIXE and XRF can help document material composition in various areas on the building. This will help determine the pollution components in the building material and transfer this data into digital forms to predict future pollution impacts on the building. ( PDF )

Topic: Neutron Activation Method

Prof. Michael Wiescher ( Department of Physics ) / February 13 & 20, 2009

Alternative approach to PIXE (XRF) to look for elemental abundances in materials using neutrons as a probe to initiate characteristic signatures associated with radioactive decay. (1) The concept of nuclei and isotopes (2) Characteristic signatures from neutron capture (3) Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) & techniques (4) Non-destructive analysis of bulky objects (5) Analysis of small samples (pottery) . ( Part 1 | Part 2 )

Topic: The Characterization of Late Nineteenth Century Ceramics

Prof. Deborah Rotman ( Department of Anthropology, Arts and Letters )

PIXE will be used to analyze late nineteenth century ceramics from Irish immigrants sites in South Bend. The manufacture and dating of refined earthenwares produced after ca. A.D. 1870 is poorly understood. How might the metals in the paste, design (such as transfer print), and/or glaze help us refine chronology and origin of manufacture of refined table and tea wares? In addition, we have virtually no grasp on coarse earthenwares (redwares and stonewares). These locally produced wares are particularly challenging with regard to assigning dates of manufacture.

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