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CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCES

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCES. Timeline The Site The Artifacts The People. RADIOACTIVE DATING. Method Range (years) Carbon-14 50-70,000 Potassium/Argon 100,000-open Uranium-238/Thorium-230 5,000-500,000. CALIBRATION PLOT. RADIATION DAMAGE.

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CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCES

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  1. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCES Timeline The Site The Artifacts The People

  2. RADIOACTIVE DATING Method Range (years) Carbon-14 50-70,000 Potassium/Argon 100,000-open Uranium-238/Thorium-230 5,000-500,000

  3. CALIBRATION PLOT

  4. RADIATION DAMAGE • Thermoluminescence (TL) (recent-500,000 BP): electrons freed by high energy particles and trapped; requires ancient firing • Electron spin resonance (recent-10,000,000 BP: carbonate matrices • Fission track (recent-1,000,000,000 BP): glassy materials with uranium

  5. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S HORSE

  6. SITE PROSPECTION • Resistivity • Magnetic • Electronmagnetic • Ground penetrating radar • Chemical

  7. MAGNETIC SURVEY OF AN ENGLISH CHURCH SITE

  8. STOKKERUPP SITE (DENMARK)

  9. ARTIFACT ANALYSIS • Conservation • Provenance of raw materials (trade routes) • Technology of manufacture • Economics

  10. PROVENANCE • Inorganic analysis (elemental profiles) • Isotopic analysis • Carbon functionalities

  11. Marble Obsidian Quartzite/sandstone Flint Soapstone Copper Clay/pottery Glass Leaded glass Leaded alloys Amber Jet MATERIALS THAT CAN BE PROVENANCED

  12. FLINT MINING SITES IN WESTERN EUROPE

  13. GRIMES GRAVES

  14. CLASSICAL MARBLE (CRAIG AND CRAIG)

  15. PROBLEMS • All raw material sources must be sampled. • All sources must have different profiles. • Technology cannot alter the profile. • Alteration cannot occur during burial.

  16. ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY • Dyes and pigments • Pottery • Glass • Metals

  17. EGYPTIAN AND MAYA BLUE

  18. THE BLUES OF ANTIQUITY • Azurite (2CuCO3·Cu(OH)2) • Cobalt blue (CoO·Al2O3) • Lapis lazuli or ultramarine (FeS silicates) • Egyptian blue (2500 BC) CuO·CaO·4SiO2 (coprorivaite) Sand + CaCO3 + malachite + flux • Maya blue (1000 AD) Indigo vegetable + white clay Resistive to redox agents, acid, base, heat

  19. POTTERY TECHNOLOGY • Types of clay • Structure of slip or glaze • Cause of color • Firing temperature • Firing atmosphere

  20. GLASS TECHNOLOY • Former (silica) • Modifiers (soda-lime, potash, lead) • Color and opacity • Cameo glass (Portland vase) • Dichroic glass (Lycurgus cup)

  21. LYCURGUS CUP

  22. METAL TECHNOLOGY • Alloy (bronze, brass) • Fabrication (cast, worked, joining) • Decoration • Smelting and refining

  23. ORGANIC TECHNOLOGY • Food and drink • Fibers and textiles • Asphalt, tar, and pitch • Amber, jet, lacquer • Rubber • Dyes

  24. GAS CHROMATOGRAM OF FOOD RESIDUE

  25. MESOAMERICAN RUBBER • 4000 years old • Latex from the Castilla elastica tree • Juice from the morning glory vine Ipomoea alba • Rubber balls for pelote (artifacts from Manatí (Oaxaca, Mexico) and the cenote of Chichén Itzá (Yucatán, Mexico) • Rubber bands for hafting and decoration • Hosler, Burkett, and Tarkanian, Science, 2000

  26. ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS • Soil analysis • Bone analysis (isotope, elements) • Bodies and coprolites (natural products) • Amino acid dating • DNA

  27. CARBON ISOTOPES IN BONE Ratio of 13C to 12C is determined by food source and metabolism. 13C/12C(ppt) Class Food -26.5 C3 plants trees, shrubs, temperate grasses -12.5 C4 plants maize, savannah grasses 0.0 marine marine Also 15N/14N (carnivore/herbivore/legumes)

  28. CARBON ISOTOPES OF WOODLAND INDIANS IN ILLINOIS

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